City of High School
by hufflepuffamity
Summary: Yes, yes another all human high school TMI story. Sue me. Clary Fray is a junior and in advanced classes, and some of her classes are with Jace Lightwood, her best friend's brother. But there's more to Clary's past then meets the eye. Will Jace help her cope with her horrible past? Or will the past repeat itself? Some Malec and Sizzy, and of course there's Clace. :3
1. Chapter 1: First Day

**Clary:**

Clary woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm. Groaning, she turned it off. Today was the first day of her junior year in high school and she had to get up early if she wanted to catch the bus. She quickly threw together a nice first day of school outfit and walked into the kitchen. Her mom was making breakfast and smiled at her as she came in.

"I'm cooking your favorite breakfast, Clary," Clary's mom, Jocelyn, said smiling.

"Bacon and eggs?" Clary asked enthusiastically.

"Yes," Clary's mom smiled as she she went to put the food on 2 plates. Clary sat at the table and looked sadly at Luke's usual spot. Luke was her step dad, but he was a teacher at Clary's school, and had to get there early.

Jocelyn placed a plate in front of Clary and then sat down and placed a plate in front of her. Clary got up to get coffee and then dug into her eggs.

"So, you nervous for junior year?" Clary's mom asked.

"Kinda. I mean I am in classes with seniors. They'll probably all make fun of me," Clary said sadly.

"I doubt they'd do that," Jocelyn said sounding concerned.

"You don't know what senior boys are like mom. I do," Clary sighed as she got up to put her dishes in the dish washer. She then quickly brushed her teeth, hair, and put on make up. She didn't wear that much make up, especially compared to the amount that her best friend Isabelle wears, but she puts on some mascara, lip gloss, and little bit eye liner and blush. Walking out of her small bathroom, she grabbed her back pack hanging on the chair and lifted it. It was very heavy, not only because her supplies were in there, but she also had 4 novels in there as well.

"Bye, Mom!" Clary called as she opened the door.

"Bye, Clary! Have a good first day!"

Clary just groaned and walked to her bus stop.

* * *

Standing at the bus stop waiting for her was her best friend Simon.

"You took your time," Simon teased.

Clary rolled her eyes at him. "Good to see you, too," she grumbled. Before they could really start a conversation, the bus pulled up. Clary stepped into the chaotic bus after Simon. The sound of swearing, gum chewing, and laughter overwhelmed Clary for a second before she got used to it. Bus #10 hadn't changed at all.

Sighing, Clary plopped down into a seat near the front and Simon sat next to her. He was texting someone and smiling.

"Izzy?" Clary asked.

"Yeah," Simon said while responding.

Izzy was the fab Isabelle Lightwood, Clary's other best friend. Isabelle and Simon were dating and no one really knew why. Izzy is gorgeous and has a great body and pretty much every guy who sees her drools. Simon, on the other hand, was a bit of a geek. Like Clary. People also wondered why Izzy was Clary's best friend. The truth was, at first that wasn't true. Izzy had been a bitch to Clary when she had first moved to Brooklyn. Then she realized how cruel she was being and asked for a second chance. Clary eventually forgave her and they have been close ever since. Izzy is sort of on a mission to make Clary more of a girl, but she still hasn't succeeded after years of trying.

Soon enough, the bus had reached the school, Alicinate High School. Everyone pushed Clary, some calling her names making fun of her shortness. When Clary finally managed to exit the bus, Simon was waiting for her chuckling. Clary rolled her eyes at him.

"What a great friend you are...," she grumbled.

They headed to the Junior Wing. The Junior Wing was where all 11th graders had their lockers and hung out. Clary spotted Izzy in the crowd and pointed her out to Simon.

"Damn," Simon muttered. Izzy's outfit was a pink top with spaghetti straps and it was quite revealing. She wore an insanely short denim skirt that barely went past her butt. And she wore crazy tall heels. It's a miracle Izzy could walk in them, they were so tall. Clary wouldn't have been surprised if Simon started to drool. He didn't though. He just gaped at her. Izzy noticed them and smiled. She then walked toward them amazingly quickly, considering he was in those heels.

"Hey, Clary!" she exclaimed as she hugged her best friend. She then turned to Simon. "Hey, babe," she gave him a kiss. A couple people whistled and some yelled "GET A ROOM!"

Izzy rolled her eyes when she pulled away and flipped the boys off. She then turned to Clary who giggled.

"How have you been? It seems like we haven't talked in FOREVER."

"I know! But I need to ask one thing...how high are those heels?" Clary asked, pointing to Izzy's shoes.

"Oh, these?" Izzy glanced at her heels. "7 inches."

"Dang," Clary muttered.

"So are you in any advanced classes this year?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah, advanced Science and Math and Language Arts."

"So half of your classes are with seniors?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah," Clary shrugged.

"You are SO lucky!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Hey!" Simon said.

Izzy laughed. "I'm allowed to admire some senior boys cuteness, aren't I?" She joked.

"Oh okay," Simon smiled and put his arms around her waist. It was so cute and Clary was jealous that Izzy had a boyfriend to do that. Clary didn't. The last time she had a boyfriend was freshman year, and it hadn't been that serious.

"So how's Alec dealing with college?" Clary asked. Izzy's older brother Alec started his freshman year in college a week or so ago.

"Pretty good. He met a boy there. His name is Magnus Bane. Alec has a HUGE crush on him," Izzy sighed.

"So he's finally told everyone that he's gay?" Clary asked.

"Yeah, he told my parents last weekend," Izzy sighed. "It wasn't pretty, but they have accepted it."

"Good! So, uh, how's Jace?" Clary asked carefully. Jace was Izzy's other older brother, except he was adopted. He was gorgeous, and the captain of the football and basketball team. Clary has secretly had a little crush on him for a few years, but Izzy didn't know that.

"Not well. He's still partying a lot and has a new girlfriend each week. It's as if he doesn't feel anything, he just lusts for them and then throws them away." Izzy looked sad and then sighed. "I am very worried for him, and so is mom. We're worried that he doesn't have feelings at all. I mean, what senior boy hasn't fallen in love?"

Clary nodded slowly. The warning bell rang. Clary sighed. "I have to go to my locker. See you guys at lunch."

* * *

**As you can see, this chapter is a lot longer than probably my whole THG story *sighs***

**_I actually am not in high school yet, I'm an 8th grader so I may get some stuff wrong because I'm writing the high school based on what I've been told about it, stereotypes (deal with it), and other fan fics :p_**

**_I hope you like it!_**

**_I am open to suggestions, this is my first fan fic where I have said this. However, if I don't use yours, PLEASE don't be offended. _**

**_Till next time,_**

**_-amityhufflepuff_**


	2. Chapter 2: Chemistry with the Devil

**Clary:**

Grabbing her supplies from her locker, Clary glanced down at her schedule. History was first, taught by none other than Mr. Luke Garroway. Having her step dad as her teacher was going to be so awkward.

Clary walked to Luke's classroom and saw that she was the first one there. Luke looked up and laughed.

"Do I know you?" he joked.

"I dunno. You look familiar...,"

Luke laughed and rumpled Clary's hair. "Well, you better take a seat. And Clary," He added as Clary started to walk away. "In class, I'm afraid you'll have to call me Mr. Garroway." He smiled.

Clary laughed. "No promises."

History went by quickly. Luke makes history interesting, so Clary is confident that she'll be able to keep her eyes open this year. When the bell rang, she stood up and looked at her schedule. Senior chemistry.

"Bye, Lu— I mean, Mr. Garroway!" Clary called out to her step dad as she left.

"Bye, Clary! Have a great first day!"

It took Clary a little while to find her Chemistry class room but she finally did. As she walked into the room, she knew she was in trouble. Sitting in the room, in the center of attention, was Jace Lightwood. Isabelle's adopted brother. Clary wondered if one could get hotter in a couple weeks, because somehow he had. The last time she saw him was the last time she was at Izzy's house, a few weeks ago.

Clary tried her best to ignore Jace and sat at an empty desk near him. She glanced up and noticed that a girl was all over Jace. They were making out intensely while everyone cheered them on. Jace's hands were under the girl's shirt. It was revolting.

_So this how it's gonna be_, Clary thought to herself.

There was a boy who was outside looking out for the teacher and he ran in.

"The teacher is coming!" he called. Jace moaned and pulled his hand out of the girl's shirt and pulled away. Clary now got a view of what the girl looked like. She was blonde and had striking blue eyes, and she was skinny and had curves. She basically was a supermodel. She noticed that neither of them looked at each other with affection. Wasn't that the way couples were supposed to look at each other?

* * *

**Jace:**

_Oh shi_t, Jace thought to himself. _She's here_.

She is Clary Fray. She is nothing special. The girl had a flat stomach and was petite, very petite. Jace towered over her. If she wasn't such a nerd, she would be a good cheerleader.

The bad thing about Clary being here is that Clary was best friends with Izzy. She could tell Izzy everything. And then Izzy would tell Jace's adopted mom, Maryse. And then Jace was screwed.

But there's something about Clary that Jace couldn't put a finger on. Something about her was striking. Her green eyes were a perfect combination with her hair...no. Jace couldn't think about this. Him with Clary Fray? His reputation would be destroyed! Clary was a nerd, he was a star athlete.

Kaelie, Jace's newest girlfriend, squeezed his hand, bringing him back to his senses. She handed him a note. Neither of them were listening to the teacher. Jace smirked at Kaelie and read the note:

_I liked what we were doing until we were rudely interrupted. To be continued at my place tonight?_

Jace glanced at Kaelie and she batted her eyelashes. Jace smirked again and answered:

_Can't wait._

The thing was, Jace didn't even like Kaelie. She was a bitch. She backstabbed her friends. Jace secretly hated her. But he also lusted for her. And lust always won that war. So he just ignored his hate for her when he made out with her. Besides, it's not like he'll be with her much longer. He usually only stayed with girls for about a week, and then moved on. Kaelie was the same with guys. They both knew this wasn't exclusive.

"Here is your seating chart!" The teacher, Mr. Starkweather, announced. Everyone groaned.

"Aline," Mr. Starkweather started pointing to seats and saying the students' names.

"Jace," Mr. Starkweather said. Jace plopped down in his seat. "Clary," Jace heard. He watched out of his peripheral vision Clary sit down.

Clary is sitting next to me. How fan-fucking-tastic, Jace thought.

* * *

**I was so excited about the amazing feed back I got for Chapter 1 that I had to post Chapter 2 today.**

**From now on though I will probably post once a week, most likely on the weekend. (School sucks.)**

**Hooray for suggestive dialogue. **

**To and cosmicgirl286: Thank you I'm glad you enjoy it! :D**

**To TheDauntlessNephilimTribute: First off, your name is awesome. SIZZY POWA AW YEAH. And about Clace, it depends on your definition of "soon" ya know? There isn't really any in the next chapter I don't think though. :(**

**To bookaddict923 and The Herondale Boys: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OFFER. I may need your advice on future high school events (one word: homecoming ;D)**

**AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS. THE AUTHOR OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE FAN FICTIONS, iLoveMeSomeCaptainAmerica, FOLLOWED THIS STORY AHH I FANGIRLED**

**132 views in a day wow you guys are the best**

**Please review I love reviews :)**

**Till next time, **

**-hufflepuffamity**


	3. Chapter 3: Lunch

Clary:

_How wonderful. I have to sit next to this asshole_, Clary thought. But at the same time, though she hated to admit it, she was pleased. She was also secretly pleased that Kaelie was sitting far, far away from Jace.

The class went by quickly, and once the bell rang, Clary was the first out of her seat, getting away from Jace as soon as possible.

The next few periods went by quickly and soon it was time for lunch. Clary quickly bought her food and walked over to sit with Izzy, Simon, Maia, and Jordan. Jordan was Jace's best friend, but he was sitting with them because he was Maia's boyfriend.

"Hey, girl, what's up!" Maia exclaimed as Clary sat down. They quickly hugged.

"Not much, you?"

"Jordan and I got our own apartment!" Maia squealed.

"Wow!" Clary said, surprised. Yes, both their parents were bad/abusive parents and didn't give a crap about either of them, but Clary was still surprised that they were allowed to get an apartment on their own. "Well, congratulations then! No parents! Sounds kinda scary to me."

That was a lie. It wasn't scary to Clary. She's lived without parents before. Or at least, that's what it felt like. For more than half of Clary's life, she didn't have parents, not really. Her dad had custody of her and her brother until she was 13, and she practically had to raise herself. Visiting her mom every other weekend had always been a relief. But she wasn't about to tell her friends that.

"So, what classes do you have next?" Maia asked everyone at the table.

"Art," Jordan groaned. Clary laughed. She had been in his art class last year. Let's just say he wasn't an amazing artist.

"Language Arts," Simon said, groaning. Language Arts wasn't his strongest subject.

"Gym, which means cheerleading. They let us practice during gym. Today is tryouts for the freshman so that will be VERY entertaining," Isabelle laughed.

"Wait, tryouts for the freshman are on the first day of school?" Simon asked.

"Yeah, it's kinda stupid," Isabelle shrugged.

"What about you, Clary?" Jordan asked. He had always been so kind and polite to her, unlike his best friend Jace. "What class do you have next?"

"Calculus," Clary groaned. Sometimes she wished that she wasn't smart. She didn't like taking advanced classes.

"Hey, I have calculus next too!" Maia exclaimed.

Clary smiled. "Looks like we get to suffer together!"

Maia was kind of like Clary. A nerd, except she was also an extrovert. So she was smart, loved books, and fangirled, yet she STILL got guys because she managed to also fit in going to parties. So not fair.

"So Clary, do you have any classes with Jace?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah, I have Chemistry with him. We actually sit next to each other for it."

"You poor soul," Jordan muttered, laughing a little.

"Ha-ha."

"So did he do anything interesting?" Izzy continued to ask with a concerned tone. It was sweet how much she cared about her brother.

"Uh, he was intensely making out with this girl when I walked in...and when I say intensely making out, I mean intensely making out. Tongue, hand in each others shirts, the works," Clary rolled her eyes.

"That sounds like it would be an interesting sight," Jordan laughed. Maia hit him.

"Yeah, sure. Very," Clary said rolling her eyes.

"Wait, who is Jace dating?" Jordan asked.

"Shouldn't you know? You are one of his best friends, after all," Izzy pointed out.

"Yeah, I am. But the guy is out of control. It's as if he has a new girlfriend every week! I can't even keep track!" Jordan exclaimed.

Izzy sighed. "I am worried about him, I really am..."

"Don't worry. He'll come around," Simon said. "I think."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. They all got up and said good bye to each other, Izzy heading to the changing room to change into her cheerleading uniform, Simon to Language Arts, Jordan to plain old Art, and Maia and Clary walking to Calculus together.

* * *

**This is a filler chapter kinda sorta I guess **

**If it makes you feel any better I wrote Chapter 6 (I write the chapters ahead of time) a few days ago and it's pretty freaking long**

**Do you have something that you want to happen? (Not a MAJOR THING that will mess up the plot, but something small) just comment and I'll see if I can work it into the story somehow :)**

**The reviews and everything has been SO overwhelming I love you all so much seriously I can't believe people actually want to read this**

**Please review :3**

**If you like Hunger Games, read my Hunger Games fan fic! (Let me tell you, writing two fan fics at once is HARD)**

**Till next time,**

**-amityhufflepuff :) **


	4. Chapter 4: At the End of Day

Jace:

Jace wasn't able to get Clary out of his mind, no matter what he tried. And Kaelie was starting to really get on his nerves. She kept flirting with other guys, pretending he wasn't even there. Yes, they were not technically exclusive, but it upset him. Eventually at lunch, when she was flirting with one of his friends, he just snapped.

"You know what Kaelie? I can't do this. I can't watch you flirt with other guys and pretend I'm not here. I've wanted to say this for a really long time: You are a whore. And you need to get standards. Bye." He stormed away from the table he was sitting at and left the lunch room. Before he walked out of the door, he glanced back and saw Kaelie and her best friend Seelie staring at him, their jaws dropped. He smirked and walked to the library.

He walked among the books and found one of his favorites, A Tale of Two Cities. It had been one of his father's favorites, he was told. He wouldn't know, his father was killed in a car accident when he was 1 years old. His mom had died at childbirth. Then he went from foster home to foster home, until the Lightwoods finally took pity on him and adopted him.

He read until the bell rang, then went to his next class. Calculus. Jace hated math.

Walking in, he was relieved to see that Kaelie wasn't in his class, but Seelie was, which would suck. She was glaring at him.

Jace ignored her and sat down at the first empty seat he found.

* * *

Clary:

"I dunno about you, but I am NOT looking forward to Calculus," Maia said.

"Me neither. But we're just gonna have to deal with it," Clary sighed. She was leaning against the wall next to Maia's locker. Maia shut her locker and the two of them walked to their Calculus class.

Walking in, to her horror, Clary saw that Jace was in her Calculus class. Groaning inwardly, her and Maia sat down next to him because they were the only empty seats.

"How's it going, Jace?" Maia asked politely.

Jace shrugged. "Alright."

"What did you do to Seelie? She keeps glaring at you," Maia noted. Clary looked over at Seelie, a bitchy drama queen senior who was friends with Kaelie. She was glaring at Jace and gave Clary a look that said _"Mind your own business bitch"._ Clary quickly looked away.

"She looks pretty pissed off," she muttered.

"It's a long story," Jace sighed, sounding like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Jace Lightwood? Uncomfortable? Oh Izzy was DEFINITELY gonna hear about this!

"I'm listening," Maia said.

Jace sighed. "I might have broken up with Kaelie and called her a whore...," he muttered.

Maia laughed. "Dang!"

"Yeah."

Our Calculus teacher cleared her throat just then and the voices all died out. She started to teach but Clary wasn't paying attention.

Jace is single, she thought. Why did she keep thinking that? It wasn't important to her. She didn't care. Jace was just her best friend's troubled older brother. Why should she care?

She glanced at him and saw that he was already staring at her. Why was he staring? Did she have something on her face?

Calculus went by quickly and the rest of the day did too. Next thing Clary knew, she was waiting for her stupid bus.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Izzy asked for the thousandth time.

"No, I'm fine. Really, I am."

The reason Clary didn't want a ride is because she knew she'd get distracted by Jace. And she could not get her hopes up. He was probably gonna have a new girlfriend by tomorrow anyway. Also, she'd have to wait an hour for Izzy's cheerleading practice and Jace's football practice to be over.

"Alright...well, see ya tomorrow!" Isabelle hugged Clary and gave Simon a quick kiss. Then she turned around and left, leaving Clary and Simon to wait for their bus to arrive. When it did, they climbed on and Clary recounted the day in her head as the bus headed to her house.

* * *

**Alright here is the new chapter! I know it took a while. I've been busy and it kinda takes a while for me to upload these. Sorry! :P**

**Am I the only who hasn't been getting emails about updated chapters lately?!**

**To everyone who has been saying how much they love this fan fic so far: THANK YOU. It's a lot of work, and believe it or not, I almost stopped writing it. I uploaded it on here partially to push myself to keep writing it.**

**I've been writing Chapter 8 (the homecoming chapter!) all week. It's pretty long, and I'm not even half way done yet! :D**

**I love me some reviews so please review! :3**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	5. Chapter 5: Change

**Jace:**

Jace knew he blew it during football practice. The cheerleaders had practice the same time the football players did. After they were done with warm ups, Jace glanced at the cheerleaders to see what they were doing. He found Kaelie and Seelie glaring at her, along with Jessie, their other friend who was a Junior. News had travelled fast. In fact, all the girls on the squad looked pissed at him, except for Izzy who just shrugged apologetically at him.

_Oh well. I'll deal with their wrath later_, he thought.

He kept thinking about Clary though. He's known her since she moved into town in 8th grade and became friends with his sister, but he never really was attracted to her. Yeah, she was pretty, but it just seemed weird. But something changed today. She seemed strikingly beautiful now, it was hard to look away from her. It was weird, how your feelings could change in one moment, just like that.

* * *

**Clary:**

It had been a couple weeks since school had started up again and Clary was already sick of it. She was sick of the lame beginning of the year fundraisers, and the pep rallies. She was sick of homework.

But what was perplexing was she always thought of Jace as kinda a douche. But once they started working together in Chemistry, that wasn't the case. He was thoughtful about the answers to their lab questions and smart. He was polite to her during class even. It was perplexing.

Clary was ashamed to admit it, but she was starting to fall for him. And she hated it, knowing he was a player. It was scary.

Right now, Clary was in Chemistry doing her homework. Her and Jace had been the first people done with their lab.

"Hey," Jace randomly said. Clary turned her head and looked at him.

"Hey?" she asked.

"I, uh, was just wondering if you were going to the game tonight. Ya know, the Warriors versus the Lions." Jace said quickly sounding nervous. The Warriors was the nick name for the school's team.

"Yeah, I guess. Izzy was going to force me to go anyway," Clary shrugged. It was true. Clary would prefer to read Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick because the book before that ended on a cliff hanger, but Izzy refused to give up. Clary didn't understand why everyone freaked out about these events anyway. It's not like anyone pays attention to the game. Everyone just hangs out and has a good time. Izzy has to cheer anyway. Simon and Maia were coming, though, which was nice.

"That's cool," Jace said. He was acting weird. "I'll be playing on the field." He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I know. You're on the team. I'm not an idiot," Clary rolled her eyes.

Just then the bell rang and Clary jumped to put away her things and leave. But before she left the room, Jace called out to her.

"I'll see you there? At the game?" he asked.

"Uh sure," Clary shrugged.

* * *

**Yet another little baby chapter**

**I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS LONG-ISH I ****actually don't know how long it is**

**The next chapter is the football game :D  
**

**And I'm about to start writing chapter 9 too so yay**

**Thanks for reading 3**

**Please review :]**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	6. Chapter 6 The Football Game

**Clary:**

"Wait wait, tell me his exact words," Isabelle said as she leaned outside the entrance to Alicinate High School next to Clary.

"He said 'I'll see you? At the game?'" Clary recalled for the 10th time.

"Hmmm," Izzy thought. "This is kind of strange, I'm not going to lie. Jace usually wouldn't care if someone comes to a game or not. MAYBE HE LIKES YOU!" she exclaimed.

Clary's heart raced at the thought that Jace could like her. No, it's not possible. "I doubt it."

"Boys are strange, Clary. I'm almost POSITIVE he does. I wish I could get you ready, but I have to practice my routine with the rest of the squad, and get my hair and makeup done." She pouted.

Not only was there a football game tonight, but it was the first game of the season. So of course, the school was going all out. Izzy and the rest of the cheerleaders have a complicated routine for it, and special hair and makeup. Alicinate High School has the reputation of having amazing half time shows, even if they were a lot of work.

"It's fine. It's a football game. People just wear sweatshirts to that. It's not like I need a ton of makeup and my hair has be straightened. This isn't homecoming," Clary pointed out.

"I know," Izzy sighed. "Which actually is coming up!" she said excitedly. Clary groaned. "You ARE going to homecoming this year, Clary. No exceptions! And about the game, just wear a Warrior sweatshirt or something, and you'll be fine. Maybe some face paint?"

"No face paint," Clary violently shook her head no. "I am not putting blue and silver stripes on my cheeks." Blue and silver were the school colors.

"Okay, okay. Fine," Izzy huffed in defeat. "Just don't bail!"

"I won't," Clary rolled her eyes.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

Hair? Check. Make up? Check. Routine? Um. That's another story.

Izzy tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes when Coach Lightwood blew the whistle AGAIN. Yes, Lightwood. The cheerleading coach was none other than Isabelle's mother. Izzy barely paid attention as her mom scolded the group for messing up a certain tuck and blah blah blah. When her mom finally realized they were as good as they'll ever be, they headed outside to stretch and then wait for the crowd to start to form. Izzy quickly spotted number 46 warming up with the other football players and ran up to him.

"You ready for your first game of senior year?" Izzy grinned at him.

"You bet I am," Jace smirked at her.

"Well try not to kill yourself out there, okay? I'd hate to explain THAT story to Alec when he visits next month...," Izzy teased.

"No promises," Jace said cockily.

"HEY!" the two of them jumped and to the direction of where the voice had come from. It was Coach Fell. "NUMBER 46 PLEASE TELL YOUR GIRLFRIEND TO LEAVE!"

"SHE'S MY SISTER!" Jace exclaimed angrily. "You better go," he muttered.

"Have fun big brother!" Izzy said in a high pitched voice. Jace rolled his eyes at her.

"Must you?!" he hissed.

"Yes, Alec is in college now so I have no other choice but to embarrass you." Izzy then skipped away.

* * *

**Clary:**

The bleachers were packed by the time Clary had got to the high school for the game. She pushed through the huge crowds with difficulty, since she was so short. Eventually she manage to sit down in the front row. The seat wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. She snuggled into her Warrior sweater and waited for the game to start.

* * *

It was now half time and the score was 21-20, so things were getting tense. Clary watched Izzy and the rest of the cheerleaders do flawlessly on their routine. It looked impressive, and was one heck of a way to start the season. That was for sure. Clary was starting to walk back when she bumped into a man.

"Oh I'm so...," she started to apologize.

"Clary?"

Clary looked up and saw that she was looking into the golden eyes of Jace Lightwood. He was sweaty, but he was still beautiful.

"Oh, hi," she said breathlessly.

"Hi," he smirked. "Well, I have to go. But let's talk after the game. Alright?" he asked and then smiled a little. That was odd. He was not acting like Jace Lightwood, the player/man whore she knew. At all.

"Yeah, yeah. See ya then," Clary said, waving.

"Clary!" she heard someone else call. Clary turned and found Simon and Maia.

"Oh THANK GOODNESS. I looked everywhere for you two!" Clary exclaimed.

"We have too!" Maia exclaimed. "Have you seen Jordan play?"

"Yeah, he's been doing good!"

"I know! I'm so proud of him," Maia gushed.

"Hey, I'm here too," Simon laughed.

"Sorry, Simon," Maia rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Where are you sitting? Our seats are probably better. Sit with us!" Simon exclaimed.

"Okay!" Clary followed him to their seats. They were sitting next to Luke, actually.

"Hey, stranger," Clary poked him in the shoulder.

"I didn't know you were here," he grinned at her.

"Izzy kinda begged. Plus someone else asked me to come."

"Who?" Maia demanded.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Clary blushed. Why was she blushing? "Let's just watch the rest of the game."

* * *

The Warriors ended up winning 56-40, and Clary was sure she had lost her voice from all the cheering. She was glad she came, however. The last time she went to a football game was probably last year. She had forgotten how fun they were.

"I'm gonna go find Izzy," Simon said.

"I'll come with you, I need to see Jordan," Maia said, getting up.

"I'll come too, there's someone I need to talk to," Clary said.

"Who? Stop being so mysterious! Spill!" Maia exclaimed.

"Nope, my lips are sealed," Clary teased. "I'll tell you later, okay? It would take too long to explain."

"Fine," Maia huffed.

They were now by the field and Izzy was running towards them.

"How'd I do?" she asked the trio.

"Awesome!" Clary exclaimed.

"You definitely stressed out for nothing," Maia reassured her.

"You looked gorgeous," Simon said, pulling her into a kiss. Maia started making choking noises.

"Not in front of me, you guys!" she whined.

They ignored her and continued to make out. Maia turned to Clary.

"Can you believe them? The nerve of some people!" Maia said over dramatically. Clary laughed.

"Oh God," Maia suddenly said, looking behind Clary. "Why couldn't he have just kept it in his pants this once?"

"What?" she asked, turning around. But then she saw what Maia was talking about.

There was Jace, in the middle of the field, making out intensely with Aline Penhallow.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN**

**So I decided to upload chapter 6 today because of all the reviews I got yesterday! I got SO MANY.**

**I also checked how many views this fanfiction has gotten and it got 1k freaking views since yesterday like WHAT.**

**The next chapter is longish as well :D  
**

**So YEAH THANKS FOR READING ILY**

**Please review it I like to pretend I have friends...**

**Just kidding I have friends I'm actually facetiming them as I type this *whispers* hi Lindsay**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	7. Chapter 7: Homecoming Prep and What Not

**Clary:**

The next couple weeks, Clary and Jace don't talk during chemistry unless they have to answer lab questions. And even then, they do the questions themselves.

It was very lonely. Clary had gotten used to his company. She missed his jokes. She even missed his arrogance.

The ding that informed the school that the office had an announcement went off and everyone looked up. The girls, especially, were excited, because they knew what the office was announcing. They were announcing nominations for the homecoming court.

"Good morning, Alicinate High!" Principal Aldertree said pretending to be excited, even though he was a guy, and guys don't really care about this crap. "It is time to announce the nominations to Homecoming!" Everyone except Clary, who could care less, cheered.

You see, for most high schools, they only nominated seniors for queen. But at Alicinate High, yes, you nominated seniors for homecoming queen, but they also had a homecoming princess for juniors.

"For homecoming princess, the nominees are Jessamine Lovelace, Isabelle Lightwood, Tessa Gray, and Sophie Collins!" Clary smiled and clapped her hands a little. Izzy will be very happy about that. Tessa and Sophie were really nice. Jessie might be a sour loser if someone won other than her, though.

"And now time for the nominees for Homecoming Queen!" Clary rolled her eyes again and zoned out. She found all this homecoming stuff ridiculous. It was just a dance, and a plastic tiara! She had no idea why Izzy cared about it so much.

"And for Homecoming King, the nominees are Raphael Santiago, Julian Blackthorn, James Carstairs, and Jace Lightwood!" Everyone cheered for Jace and, being the arrogant person he is, he bowed.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

"Vote for me for homecoming princess! Vote for me for homecoming princess!" Isabelle said to anyone who would listen.

They announced the nominees on Monday and now it was Thursday, and Isabelle was handing out lemonade at the entrance to the school while Maia and Clary stood next to her. Laughing.

"I can't believe you're actually handing out lemonade to get votes. I thought they only did that in those stupid Disney movies," Maia said gasping for breath.

"Well, at least Maryse made the lemonade. If Izzy had, the whole would've gotten poisoned and she definitely wouldn't have gotten any votes!" Maia and Clary started howling with laughter.

Izzy playfully glared at them. "Well what's your idea to get votes?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe you could just let them vote for you based on your personality?" Clary said. Maia and Izzy stared at her blankly.

"That's not how it works Clary," Izzy told her.

Clary shrugged and continued reading her book, The Fault in Our Stars, which she's probably read at least 5 times.

"You could do what they did on the only episode I ever saw of Glee," Maia said. Izzy raised an eyebrow. "You can make cupcakes and put drugs in them," she snorted.

"Maia, they put the drugs in brownies. Not cupcakes," Clary corrected.

"No, no. It was cupcakes," Maia argued.

"Well that's not that bad an idea...," Izzy started.

"NO," Maia and Clary both said at once.

* * *

**Clary:**

"Hey, Si," Clary called at Simon during Art. It was the only class they had together, right before lunch.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You wanna ask Izzy to homecoming right?" she asked.

Simon sighed. "Of course I do..."

"THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE IT?!" she demanded.

"I'm nervous..."

"It's not that hard. All you do is give her flowers and ask. That's all."

"Easy for you to say. You're not a guy. You don't have to ask. Us guys get nervous too!"

"Hey, how about you invite her over with us this afternoon. We are still hanging out, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Well, have Izzy join us. I don't think she has cheerleading today. We might even get a ride this way," Clary grinned mischievously. She hated riding the bus with a burning passion.

"I guess, but how do I ask?" Simon asked nervously.

"Like I said; get some flowers. How about you go to the store around the corner from your house that sells flowers while I keep Izzy busy at your house? Then you can give her the flowers and ask her to homecoming. I'll even help you if you freeze up," Clary added.

"I'm so lucky that you're my best friend," Simon sighed gratefully.

Clary smirked. "You owe me for this,"

Simon laughed. "Whatever, Fray."

The next day, after Simon had somewhat successfully asked Isabelle to homecoming, Izzy made a suggestion at lunch.

"We NEED to go dress shopping together!" she exclaimed.

"I dunno, that's not really my thing," Simon joked.

"No not you," Izzy said lightly hitting him on the shoulder. "I mean Clary and Maia and me!" Clary spit out her water.

"No way," she said immediately.

"Why not?" Izzy asked.

"I'm not even sure if I'm going to homecoming!" Clary exclaimed.

"YOU HAVE TO! You didn't even go last year, you just read some book the whole time. You have to go. Dances like homecoming are magical; you never know what's going to happen!" She winked.

"But I don't have a date!"

"You don't need one!"

Clary sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll go...,"

Izzy clapped her hands excitedly.

"I still don't want to go dress shopping though."

Izzy pouted. "Oh come on, Clary!"

"Actually, I'm with her on this one," Maia said.

"NO we have to! We haven't before! Mainly because freshman year I was sick right before so I had to get ready last minute. And sophomore year, Clary didn't even go to the dance and Maia made up some reason not to go shopping with me. We HAVE to this year! Please!" she begged.

"I hate dresses," Maia muttered.

"No you are not going to go to homecoming dressed like you have the last two years!" Izzy exclaimed, horrified. The last two years Maia wore leggings and a fancy-ish top. They didn't make her leave because she had already paid.

"UGH fine. I'll go, if she goes," Maia pointed to Clary.

"Please, please, please Clary!" Izzy begged.

"Fine, fine," Clary surrendered.

* * *

That Saturday they went to the mall.

"Hey I saw a cute dress while I was at J.C. Penny's the other day, so maybe we can go there," Clary suggested. Izzy looked horrified.

"You have so much to learn, Clary," Izzy commented.

"Thank you?"

"We're going to Von Maur," she said.

Maia choked on her Pepsi. "Von Maur?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Izzy asked.

"Well Von Maur is E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E."

"Thanks for spelling the word out, Maia, I now know how to spell expensive," Clary teased.

"Yes it's expensive, but I have my mom's debit card," Izzy waved it in front of Clary and Maia's faces.

"Alright, whatever you say," Maia rolled her eyes.

When they entered Von Maur, Clary was taken aback. She had never been to one before, and it was posh. There was a piano player playing classical music, tons of makeup stations that sold Urban Decay products, perfume stations with products from Chanel, and more dresses than you could even imagine. Dress shopping itself was long and painful, but they pulled through. Clary ended up with a sleeveless, tiered black sheath dress, according to the tag. It had a small silver flower stopped around mid-thigh. Clary couldn't deny it; she loved it.

Izzy ended up with a lace sheath dress that had black lace on the front and back and thick black strips of fabric, with 3/4 sleeves. It also went to mid-thigh, and hugged Izzy's figure. Clary's dress did the same, well it would, if Clary had a figure. Which she didn't.

They were having a tricky time finding a dress for Maia, though. Most dresses Izzy picked Maia would immediately say "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"How about this one?" Izzy asked, holding up a pretty royal blue dress. "It's Jessica Simpson!"

"Who is that?" Maia whispered to Clary.

"No idea," she whispered back. "Just smile and nod."

Maia did what Clary said and tried it on. She stepped out and Clary and Izzy both gasped.

"You look GORGEOUS!" Izzy exclaimed.

"It looks good on you!" Clary complimented.

"You MUST buy it!" Izzy told Maia.

"Should I?" Maia asked, sounding unsure.

"YES!" Clary and Izzy both exclaimed.

And then they had to buy shoes. Yet another long and painful process.

Clary and Maia ended up with similar shoes. The only difference really was that the heel on Maia's was a lot thicker, and easier to walk on.

Izzy, on the other hand, ended up with heels that had small black studs. They were extremely tall, 7 inches at least, and had ankle straps. Clary hadn't even known those existed!

The total for everything was almost $600.

"Don't sweat it, guys. My parents are rich, remember? My mom LOVES dances. She would've been disappointed if we hadn't gone all out."

It looked like Maia's eyes were about to pop out her head.

"Simon just buys whatever he sees first. Last year he bought a teal green suit jacket and a hot pink tie...," Clary muttered.

Carrying the garment bags for their dresses and the bags for their shoes, the three girls walked out of Von Maur teasing each other, looking forward to the big day.

* * *

**City of High School more like City of Page Breaks**

**Or City of I Have No Idea Where This is Going and I'm Just Writing as I Go**

**Well that's a lie I do actually know where this is going. Mostly.**

**Next chapter is homecoming woo hoo!  
**

**And I just wanted to say: THANK YOU. Yes, you. For reading and reviewing and being so amazing and supportive. It just makes this so much more fun to write. I love you all. Seriously.**

**So yeah please review I love reading them it makes my day a billion times better/brighter.**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity **


	8. Chapter 8: Homecoming

**Jace:**

Homecoming was tomorrow and the school was getting anxious. All week they had "fun" (well, the school thought they would be fun) activities, counting down to the game and the dance.

Some high schools had parades, but not Alicinate High. Jace was kind of glad that they didn't. He really didn't want to stand on the back of a truck wearing a cheap plastic crown.

"So...homecomings tomorrow," Jace said to Clary during Chemistry. They hadn't talked in weeks and it pained him to not be able to talk to her. He wasn't sure why.

"No shit, Sherlock," Clary smirked and then went back to work.

"Who are you going with?" Jace asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

Clary looked at him steadily. "No one," she answered. She then smiled a little and sarcastically said, "Guys tend to not want their dates to be ugly, nerdy girls who are in advanced classes."

"You're not ugly," Jace said before stopping himself. Clary's face changed.

"Are you calling me pretty?" she asked softly.

"Well I'm not calling you ugly, that's for sure."

Clary smiled a little. Jace could tell she was starting to warm up to him again, which made him happy. Which was absurd. Why did it matter?

"So I'm guessing you're going with Aline?" Clary asked casually.

Jace froze. He could tell Clary the truth about Aline. But...Aline wouldn't be happy about that. Jace promised himself that he'd tell Clary someday.

"No. We broke up a couple days ago," Jace shrugged.

"Right before homecoming? That's unfortunate."

"I was too good for her," Jace smirked.

Clary rolled her eyes.

* * *

**Clary:**

The bleachers were so crowded at the Homecoming Game.

The school was having the game in the middle of the day, so they could have the dance that evening. They also had the boys give their dates their corsages before the game so you could see who had a date and who didn't. It was very helpful for guys who needed a date and still hadn't gotten one.

Maia was wearing a beautiful corsage with about 8 purple and white flowers, white ribbon, and these white bead things.

Izzy was cheering while wearing her corsage. It had about 6 small white roses and white ribbon.

Almost every girl it seemed was wearing a gorgeous corsage. And then there was Clary. With her wrist bare.

The Warriors were winning by a landslide but Clary wasn't paying attention. She kept thinking about how no one was going to ever give her one of those pretty corsages. And how it seemed pretty unfair.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

After the game, Izzy took Clary and Maia to her house to get ready. After a lot of begging and persuading and compromising, they both eventually agreed to letting her do their hair and makeup.

"I'm gonna do Clary's hair first, and then your makeup Maia. And then I'll do Clary's make up, and your hair," Izzy told Maia. Maia nodded and started to reread her worn copy of The Hunger Games, a book she was read 11 times.

"What is your preference?" Izzy asked Clary after violently brushing her hair.

"I would like a fishtail braid. Those are really pretty," Clary said. Izzy immediately got to work. Once she was done, Clary ran to the mirror. As if she doubted Izzy. Humph!

Izzy then did Maia's make up. Maia was more daring than Izzy realized. She was willing for Izzy for give her dark blue eye shadow! Once she was done, Maia looked good. Not only did she look good, she looked hot.

"Jordan won't be able to resist you!" Clary giggled.

"You think so?" Maia asked nervously. Clary and Isabelle both nodded vigorously.

"Come on Clary, time for me to do your make up," Izzy called loudly. Right when she had said that, Jace walked by Izzy's room. Jace's room was right next to Izzy's.

"Run as fast as you can Clary, she'll make you look like a Barbie," he called, leaning into the room, looking at Clary and smirking. Izzy noticed Clary blush. Oh, she so was going to hear about that later.

"Get out!" Izzy yelled, pointing to the hall.

"It's your own fault you left the door open," Jace smirked one last time and then walked out.

"Stupid older brothers...," Izzy muttered.

"At least your brother loves you..," Maia muttered. "Mine tried to kill me."

Clary and Izzy both looked at Maia. She had never shared this before.

"I'm sorry," Clary said softly. "My older brother isn't gonna get answer 'brother of the year' awards anytime soon either."

"Wait, you have a brother?" Izzy asked Clary. She has known that Maia had a brother who had given her hell, but Izzy never knew that Clary even had a brother.

"Yeah. I don't like to talk about him," Clary muttered.

"Where is he now?" Maia asked.

"Jail," Clary said.

"Oh Clary," Maia hugged her.

"Doesn't matter. Come on Iz, you were going to do my make up, remember?"

Izzy nodded and then did Clary's make up. She kept it minimum and natural, the way Clary liked it. She did try to get Clary to wear false eyelashes but that was a bust.

Izzy then gave Maia a donut bun for her hair and then did her own hair and make up. She went all out. Her hair was in loose ringlets, some held back with sparkly pins, a smokey eye, false eyelashes, and red lipstick.

After a couple hours, they were finally ready.

* * *

**Jace:**

Jace never understood what took women so long to get ready. Yes, he was going to homecoming with his sister and her friends. Talk about lame. But the thing was, Jace didn't bother to try to get a date this year. He felt, for some reason, that it was unfair to Clary. Of course, that was a bunch of bullshit. They weren't dating, they were barely friends!

He heard Izzy's door open and looked up. Izzy and his rooms were both upstairs. He currently was waiting by the kitchen on the main floor. He craned his neck to get a glimpse of the girls at the stairs. He saw two black dresses and one blue. Rolling his eyes, he went back to the kitchen. He took another chocolate covered strawberry that Maryse, his adopted mother, had made and smiled at her glare.

"Those are for the girls, Jace!" she exclaimed.

"They aren't going to eat them anyway. Can't risk staining their dresses," he mocked. Just then, the doorbell rang. Jace walked to the door to answer it.

"Hello, Vampire," Jace greeted Isabelle's date. He started calling him vampire when they first met in freshman year of high school, because Simon had been reading the book Dracula and was also quite pale at the time because he had a fever and didn't know it.

"Jace," Simon stated, rolling his eyes.

Simon was wearing a black suit and tie, dressing up better than Jace had expected he would.

"Hey, Si!" Jace heard someone say behind him. He turned around and froze. Standing in front of him was Clary. And she looked beautiful. Her hair was in some sort of braid, though Jace preferred it when her hair was down. Her dress stopped at mid thigh so he could see her legs. She was gorgeous.

_Snap out of it, Jace. She's a junior, and your sister's best friend_, Jace thought to himself.

Clary cleared her throat and Jace snapped out of this thoughts. She was giving him a look.

_Oh, God. Was I staring at her?_

Based on the confused look she was giving him, he could tell that he had been. Jace noticed that Simon and Izzy were talking to each other and keep glancing at him and Clary.

"You look nice," Jace said, clearing his throat.

"You do too," Clary said nervously.

"Time to go outside for pictures!" Maryse called, saving Jace from the awkward position he was in.

* * *

**Clary:**

Maryse hadn't realized that Jordan wasn't there yet, so they waited for him in the backyard. Clary sat on the swing set and swung back and forth slowly. She doubted anyone had used this swing set in ages; not since Max, the youngest of the Lightwoods, had died in a car crash.

Clary watched Jace walk over and sit next to her on the swings. She tried to pretend she was unaffected by this.

He looked good in a gray suit jacket and black tie. He smelled really good too.

"So, why'd you break up with Aline?" Clary suddenly asked. That question had been on her mind for a while. It felt good to finally ask.

Jace sighed. "You can't tell anyone..," he muttered.

"Okay..?" Clary whispered, suddenly anxious.

"Well, Aline and I weren't really uh dating," Jace said.

"What do you mean?" Clary asked. Last she checked, they had been. She had seen them kiss in the halls multiple times, and holding hands.

"Well...," Jace sighed before answering, "Aline is a lesbian."

"Oh...," Clary muttered. She saw where this was going.

"I was kind of her cover up or whatever you want to call it. I owed her a favor. She was wrote my essay in Social Studies when I was out partying one night," Jace admitted.

"Oh," Clary said again.

"Yeah, but we broke up, if it even counts as breaking up. She decided she was going to accept her terms. She was even thinking about asking Helen Blackthorn out," Jace said.

"Good for her," Clary said, though her mind was reeling. Maybe Jace did like her. No, that was ridiculous. Of course he didn't.

"Clary! Jace!" Isabelle called. Clary looked up. "Get your butts over here!"

Groaning, Jace got up and held out his hand for Clary. Blushing a little, she took it and let him help her up.

* * *

The pictures were like the usual homecoming pictures. A group picture. A picture of the 3 guys. A picture of the 3 girls. A picture of Izzy pinning a boutonnière on Simon's a jacket, a picture of Maia doing the same to Jordan. A picture of Simon and Isabelle, arms around each others waists, and Maia and Jordan, in the same position.

Then it got kinda awkward.

"Alright, Jace, Clary, a picture of you two," Maryse said.

"But we aren't going together...," Clary tried to say.

"Maybe, but you two are the ones without dates. Just put your arms around each others shoulders. You know, like friends do in pictures?" Maryse suggested. Clary glanced at Jace. He shrugged and put his arm around Clary's shoulder. Since Clary was so short, she couldn't reach his shoulder. Cursing herself for being short, she put her arm around Jace's waist instead. Smiling, Maryse took the picture.

* * *

**Jace:**

When Clary put her arm around his waist, Jace could barely breathe. That was when he realized he wanted her. And not the way he's wanted girls before, no. He wanted to be the first person she told if something good happened. He wanted to be the shoulder she could cry on. He wanted to be the one that she depended on and loved.

The six of them now were all in a limo that Maryse rented and on their way to the high school. Yes, a limo. Maryse loved these cheesy dances. She wanted them to "be the best ones there."

Once they arrived, they headed to the gym. The theme of the dance was "A Night Out in the City" and they had recreated NYC out of paper. It was quite impressive. Jace scanned the crowd. He saw Aline talking to Helen and he smiled. He was glad she had finally gotten the nerve to talk to her.

"Hey Jace," Izzy said, suddenly right next to him.

"Yeah?" Jace said.

"Look at who Clary's talking to."

Jace looked to where Izzy was pointing and saw Clary talking to Sebastian Verlac. Ugh, that guy was on Jace's football team, and he was a douche. Why was he talking to Clary?

"That's right. She's talking to Sensation Verlac."

"Sensation?"

"Well, when I first met him the freshman year, I thought he had said that his name was Sensation. The nick name sort of stuck," Izzy shrugged. "But that's not the point! I don't want Clary talking to that asshole! Do something!"

Jace didn't need to be told twice. He quickly walked over to the red head and heard some of Sebastian's words as he got closer.

"Are you smart? Because I like smart girls. You could maybe even teach me a thing or two," Jace saw Clary flinch. He suddenly came up with a plan, hoping Clary would catch on.

"Hey, there you are, babe! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Jace exclaimed.

Clary turned around and widened her eyes looking confused. Jace quickly put his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. By then, Clary seemed to have gotten the message.

"I was looking for you too, but then Sebastian and I started talking," she said smoothly.

"Wait you two are...dating?" Sebastian asked suspiciously.

"Dating, going out, courting. Whatever you want to call it," Jace smirked a little.

Sebastian muttered something under his breath and walked away.

"Thank you, you saved me there," Clary muttered, relaxing. Jace reluctantly let go of her. He didn't want to, but Clary was probably a little uncomfortable with him holding her like that.

"No problem," Jace shrugged. Just then, a slow song started playing. Jace glanced at Clary, and saw that her gorgeous green eyes were staring at him intently.

"May I have this dance," he joked, holding out his hand.

Clary smiled a little. "You may," she said shyly. Jace started to loop his arms around Clary's waist, and she looped her arms around his neck. It amused Jace that, even in her high heels, her arms barely reached his neck. They started to sway back and forth and talk. And talk. And talk.

They kept talking the rest of the dance. They found out how alike they were. Jace was shocked and please to find out that she loved the shows Sherlock and Doctor Who, just like him. They probably talked about the Reichenbach Fall theories for at least 20 minutes. They talked about foods they liked, foods they didn't like, their favorite colors, movies, and many other things.

"I used to have a goldfish," Clary said when Jace asked about pets.

"Used to? What happened?" Jace asked.

"It committed suicide by jumping out of its own bowl."

Jace laughed. That was another thing; Clary made him laugh. No one could ever make him laugh, except for his adopted family. Yet Clary could do it very easily. Jace told her the story of how Isabelle and him both found their family cat, Church. He didn't want the getting to know each other and stories to end, but it had to when they announced the homecoming court. As he walked to the stage, he realized something.

Something big.

Jace Lightwood was in love with Clarissa Fray.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

It pleased Isabelle to see Jace and Clary talk during the whole dance. She had been wanting them to get together since when they had first met.

_It had been the first time Izzy had invited Clary over. Izzy was still cruel to her, but they were partners in this Social Studies project, so they had to work together._

_They worked really hard and Izzy was starting to realize how cool Clary really was and she planned to give her a chance. When the two of them were done, they went in the kitchen to steal some grapes from the fridge. The last thing Izzy expected was for Jace to walk into the kitchen. Shirtless. Izzy and Clary were both 8th graders; Jace was a freshman, and he had just returned from basketball practice. And he was all sweaty. He walked in and suddenly stopped, his eyes immediately going to Clary. Clary stared back at him with the same intensity, glanced at his bare chest, and then looked down shyly._

_"Jace, this is my partner in Social Studies and friend, Clary Fray." Clary looked up at the word "friend". "And Clary, this is my pain in the ass adopted brother, Jace."_

There had been some kind of weird connection even when the two first met. Izzy smiled at the thought of them finally possibly being in a relationship.

Now Izzy was standing on the stage next to Jessamine Lovelace and Sophie Collins, who strangely looked like Isabelle. To Sophie's left stood Tessa Gray.

"And now, this years Alicinate High homecoming princess!" Principal Aldertree called out. He then stepped behind the four girls holding up the crown. He walked around the girls to build up suspense, finally putting the crown on top of Izzy's curls.

The crowd cheered.

* * *

**Clary:**

"So, looks like you aren't gonna be a king after all," Clary teased Jace while they were walking back to the limo. Jace had lost to Jem Carstairs for homecoming king.

"Are you kidding? It's probably for the best. I doubt they would've been able to handle all of this," Jace smirked, gesturing to his muscular body.

Clary rolled her eyes.

She was glad Isabelle had convinced her to go.

She had fun getting to know Jace.

She couldn't wait to learn even more about him.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind anymore: Clarissa Fray was in love with Jace Lightwood.

* * *

**To those of you who wanted longer chapters, this is my present to you.**

**Whenever I would edit this I would mentally pat myself on the back because I'm so proud of it XD**

**Once again, never been to homecoming before, but I have gone to all the middle school dances. So I hope I didn't screw it up too badly.**

**Thanks for all the sweet reviews and everything you guys are so nice :::::)**

**And congratulations to the few people who reviewed asking if Aline is a lesbian in this fan fic YOU WERE RIGHT**

**Thanks for reading, once again :D**

**Please review, I love feedback.**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	9. Chapter 9: Dark Secrets

**Jace:**

The next morning, Jace felt as light as a feather. He was looking forward to seeing Clary at school. But it could be awkward. They're now in the "not sure if we're boyfriend and girlfriend or not" position. But he wanted that. He wanted her to be his girlfriend so bad it almost hurt.

He got up and went into the kitchen for breakfast. He immediately noticed something wrong. It was quiet. Isabelle wasn't complaining about anything. Maryse hadn't yelled at them to hurry up this morning. Robert, he wouldn't know about. Robert was his adopted father but him and Maryse were currently separated and getting a divorce. Which was why Jace was surprised to see Robert in the kitchen, hugging a crying Isabelle. Jace then glanced at Maryse who was silently crying while making eggs. Jace walked to Izzy and patted her back. He then saw a picture in the middle of the table. As he got closer, it hit him.

He now knew why they all were crying. He had forgotten. How could he forget! How could he LET himself forget!

"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Jace exclaimed as he realized what today was. "Dammit!" He yelled one more time before running out the door. He needed to get out of that house. Everyone in his family was crying anyway; he didn't want them to see him cry.

Jace ended up at the park down the road. He sat on the swing, rocking back and forth. He needed to talk to someone. He looked up his brother's number.

"Hello?" Alec's husky voice answered.

"It's me," Jace murmured.

"How was homecoming?" Alec asked lightly.

"Good. So good that I forgot what today was," he gulped.

"Well maybe it's good you forgot for a little while. That way you won't be upset all day and possibly pick fights..."

"But it was my fault!"

"No it wasn't Jace. It was not your fault. How can you even say that! It was something you couldn't control," Alec said reasonably. "You haven't been the same since. I know that. Isabelle knows that. Mom knows. You need to let go of this guilt you carry all the time!" Alec exclaimed. He paused, and Jace heard mumbling on the other side. "I have to go, Jace. Look, you should talk to Isabelle or Mom about this. Maybe it will help."

"Robert is here too," Jace added.

"There you go. You could talk to Dad if you'd like," Alec sighed again. "Just don't deal with today alone."

* * *

**Clary:**

The fact that Clary had to ride the bus didn't even bother Clary today. Nothing could upset her. Or so she thought. Her and Simon walked over to Isabelle and sat down. She didn't even look up. Not even when Simon put his arms around her.

"Iz, what's wrong?" he asked gently. Izzy just shook her head quickly. After what felt like ages, she looked up. Her eyes were red.

"Are you okay?" Clary asked.

"I'm fine, really. I am," Izzy sniffled. "I am now." She smiled. The warning bell rang.

"See you later," Clary said to Izzy and Simon.

"Bye!" Simon said. Izzy just weakly waved.

Smiling to herself, Clary sat down in Chemistry next to Jace. He barely looked up.

"Hey," Clary greeted him cautiously. He slightly nodded but continued staring into space. He looked like he was far away. Clary panicked a little. In Divergent (one of Clary's favorite books), after Tris and Tobias kissed in the chasm, Tobias had today ignored Tris the next day at breakfast. Clary wondered if they same thing was happening. But who was she kidding, they hadn't even kissed.

_Don't be ridiculous, Clary!_ She thought to herself. _He's probably just having a bad day. That's all._

But the longer the class went on, the more worried Clary became. Jace didn't talk at all, except to say one word answers while they'd discuss the class work. No sarcastic remarks. No smirks. Nothing. Isabelle had been like this as well. What was going on? Maybe it was about Maryse and Robert. They were going through a tough divorce; Robert had cheated on Maryse multiple times. (Though only Maryse, Izzy and Clary knew that. Maryse had told Izzy and Izzy told Clary because she needed to talk to a friend about it.) But Clary didn't think that was it either.

The bell rang and Clary got up but Jace didn't. He seemed dazed. Clary gently sat back down and leaned into him, patting his arm.

"Jace."

He looked up sadly. His expression broke her heart.

"The bell rang, Jace. Class is over. Look, if you don't want to talk about why you're in this mood you're in, I totally get it. But if you want to talk about whatever is going on, I'm here for you, okay?" Clary said softly. She then smiled and got up and left.

* * *

At lunch Clary sat down next to Izzy, who seemed a little more cheerful, but still nowhere near her normal self.

"Izzy, I need you to tell me what happened," Clary said.

"What do you mean?" she asked a little too innocently.

"Well you were really upset this morning but I figured it was because you missed some big shoe sale or something, I don't know. But in Chemistry, it was as if Jace was DEAD. He barely talked or smiled. He didn't even notice when the bell rang."

Izzy slowly nodded. "That makes sense," she sighed.

"What's going on?" Clary asked again. "Is it about your parents?"

"No, Jace wouldn't be like this if it was. Clary, think. What happened last year around this time? In my family?" Izzy asked.

Clary thought about it. Well, Maryse had found out about Robert. But that was maybe in December of last year. She helplessly looked at Izzy.

"Clary...today is the one year anniversary of Max's death."

"Oh," Clary simply said. How could she not have realized that! "Well, it's not Jace's fault. The car was hit by a semi-truck. Wasn't the driver drunk? Jace couldn't have controlled that."

"I know but he was the one driving the car. It was just him and Max. Max was in the front seat. Jace thinks he could've swerved out of the way somehow. Well the truth is, he probably couldn't have. It all happened so fast." Clary saw that tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks.

"I'm going to talk to him."

Izzy looked up. "Clary, I don't think that's smart. Just leave him alone a few days. He'll be fine soon enough."

"No, maybe I can help. I might know what to say to maybe make him feel better."

* * *

**Jace:**

Jace had been swimming in his despair all day.

_I could've stopped that driver,_ he kept thinking. _Why didn't I?_

After lunch he sat down in his usual seat in Calculus. He vaguely saw bright red hair and knew that Clary had just sat down next to him. He then heard a buzzing noise in his ear. It took him awhile to realize that the buzzing was actually Clary's voice, and that she was touching his arm.

"Jace, please say something," Clary begged.

Jace slowly looked up and looked at Clary. Really looked. He saw the kindness and sadness in her eyes. He saw her multiple freckles that she hated but he adored. He saw her mane of red hair.

"Hello," he finally said.

"Oh thank God," Clary muttered. "Look, I know what's wrong now and—," she paused, considering what to say next, biting her lip. "I want to talk to you. Not a therapeutic session or something stupid like that. I'll tell you about how I used to, well I still do, blame myself for things I couldn't control. So, can we talk after school?" Clary asked hurriedly.

"Yeah," Jace managed to say. He didn't know how he could talk at all. "At the bleachers."

* * *

After school, Jace walked to the bleachers and saw that Clary was already there waiting for him. She hadn't noticed that he was standing there, so he observed her. She was wearing a hoodie, with the hood up, hiding her face. Jace didn't understand why she always hid her face; did she not understand that she was beautiful? She was drawing something in her sketch pad, and concentrating very hard on it. Her eyebrows were knit together.

Jace proceeded to climb up the bleachers. Clary looked up and smiled weakly. He reluctantly sat down next to her.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hello," he said nervously.

"So. Um. Look, I will tell you this now; what happened with Max was not your fault,"

"But it was," Jace said exasperatedly.

"No, it wasn't. You weren't driving the car that killed him. You were hit by a semi truck. Whose driver was drunk. How could've you prevented that? You couldn't."

"But I survived. I was barely injured," Jace said with despair.

"Because the truck struck the side Max was sitting in. Just stop blaming yourself. I did that for years and it got me nowhere," Clary sighed. "I'm going to tell you about my past, Jace. Something I haven't told anyone. And I will tell you now; it isn't pretty." Jace continued to stare at Clary, a sign for her to go on.

Clary took a deep breath. "My parents went to school together, in Cleveland. They were very young. My mom was 18 when she got pregnant with my brother. My dad was 19. My dad was always abusive towards my mother, even before she got pregnant. But they got married and tried to raise my brother. My dad only acted gentle and somewhat human to my brother. Then a year later about, my mom got pregnant again. With me. She was terrified for me. She had a gut feeling that my dad might not be as nice to daughter as he was a son. So my mom filed for divorce when she was only a two months pregnant with me. Usually divorces take 6 months, but for my mom, since my dad was abusive, she got allowed to get a quick one. She then got a restraining order and moved to Brooklyn. My father didn't even know about my existence. Neither did my brother. He was only able to visit a few times a year, anyway, with my mom so far away. And whenever he visited, my mom had me stay at her friend Luke's house. That worked until I was 5.

"Then, when I was 5, my brother visited out of the blue. And I answered the door. You can probably imagine the shock of seeing a little girl who looked just like your mother answer the door. My mom told my brother the truth. And my brother then told my dad. My dad took it to court, saying how he deserved custody of me, since for 5 years of my life, he never saw me once. He didn't even know he had a daughter. He charmed the jury, and they pitied him. So he got custody. But under one condition: he had to move to New York so I would be close to my mom.

"We lived in a pretty crappy apartment in a pretty crappy neighborhood. There were shootings all the time. I would walk to school and back, terrified that someone would hurt me. But no one did; none of my neighbors anyway. My dad did. All the time. He would slap me and whip me for being smart or other things. He thought I was too smart and should be punished. Jonathan was no better. He hated having a "nerd sister." Things got worse as I got older. I was only able to see my mom every other weekend, and I would cover my bruises. The bullying at my school got worse. I was always called a nerd and a loser and a freak. Ugly. You name it, and I was called that. But my life sunk to an ultimate low when I was eleven," she gasped and sobbed a little. Jace gestured for her to go on.

"When I was 11, my brother...he...oh God I hate that word. He raped me. My own brother. I was 11. And he was 12. You'd think he wouldn't know how even, but he did. I got sexually abused by my brother over and over again. My dad was aware of it but he didn't care of course. He blamed me even. He would call me a whore. And I started blaming myself. It was MY fault my parents got a divorce and my mom got a restraining order for herself, not knowing that it wouldn't affect me. It was MY fault my dad hated me. It was MY fault I was so smart. And I started to hurt myself. I would cut, use a razor, a match. My mom finally found out when she accidentally walked into my room while I was changing. She saw my scars, from self-harm and my dad. She made me admit everything. She then brought it to court; my father and brother were both arrested immediately. And my mom got custody of me. I moved into her home in Brooklyn, with her and her new husband, Luke. I started going to a new school. Where I met Izzy and Simon. And you," Clary finished. She was silently crying by now. Jace scooted in and wiped her tears. He then gave her a huge hug. Clary graciously hugged back.

"Who else knows about this?" He asked after a little while.

"My mom, of course. Luke. You. That's it. I mean, Izzy, Maia, and Simon all know I had an abusive dad. Izzy and Maia accidentally found out I had a somewhat fucked up brother. But that's all."

"Clary?" Jace asked.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Would you like to have dinner at my house next week? My mom said we could each invite a guest. Alec is coming home, well, visiting. And he's bringing his boyfriend with. Izzy was going to invite Simon. Would you like to come as my date?" Jace asked nervously.

Clary shyly smiled. "I would love that."

* * *

**Yay depressing stuff!**

**Poor Clary she's been through a lot :(**

**This chapter does have quite a lot of mature themes in it, now that I think of it...oops.**

**The next chapter is less depressing I swear.**

**Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVEN IT'S ON THURSDAY **

**Please review, I love reading your reviews. It encourages me to write more. :)**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	10. Chapter 10: Dinner at the Lightwood's

**Jace:**

"Are you guys together now or what?" Isabelle questioned Jace the morning of the day Clary was coming over for dinner. She had been very excited when she found out Clary was coming.

"I thought this was a girl thing. Why don't you just ask Clary," Jace shrugged.

"The thing is, Clary doesn't know. So this is partially for her, partially for my own curiosity," Izzy replied coolly.

"I don't know either then. I mean...I know about her past. And don't ask me about it. If she wants to tell you about it, she will." Izzy had also been annoyed when she found out there was more to Clary's past than meets the eye.

"Well do you want to be more than just friends?" Izzy asked.

"Of course I do. I mean, Clary is such an amazing person. But I don't want to push her either."

"That might be exactly what you have to do," Izzy sighed. "Clary has never been in a serious relationship before. She's a little nervous about it."

* * *

"Hey," Jace smiled at Clary, who was standing next to Izzy. Clary was coming over before the dinner to hang out with Izzy and "get ready". Izzy's words, not hers. So Jace would be giving both of them a ride. Jace felt bad for her, knowing that "getting ready" will not be fun for her.

"Hi," Clary said smiling. They had talked to each other in class often today, sometimes getting in trouble.

"I'm here too you know," Izzy said loudly. Clary blushed. It was adorable. "Ah whatever. Hey Clary, you can sit in the front."

This confused Jace, and Clary as well, based on her expression. Izzy and Clary often playfully fought over who got to sit shotgun. Izzy was definitely up to something.

Clary shrugged and sat down on the passenger side. Jace walked over and eased into the driver's seat. The first few moments were spent in a borderline from comfortable to uncomfortable silence.

"Hey Jace, could you get a CD out for me?" Izzy calls from the back. Jace sighs and reaches over Clary into the glove compartment, grabbing a Beatles CD. When he was bringing his arm back to put the CD in, his hand brushed Clary's, sending what felt like millions of bolts of electricity through him. His hand lingered for a few moments longer than necessary, but he finally went to put in the CD, and when he glanced at Clary, she was blushing slightly and trying to not smile. Jace smiled to himself and continued to drive the two girls home.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

When the three of them got to Izzy and Jace's house, they were in for a pleasant surprise.

"Alec!" Isabelle exclaimed when he saw her brother sprawled on the couch, and ran to hug him. She had missed her older brother a lot. They got along better than most siblings did.

Alec smiled shyly and hugged Izzy back. He then turned to Jace and they did one of those hugs where they pound each others backs or something. Izzy never understood why guys did that.

"It's been awful without you. I have no one to complain to about Izzy's moodiness!" Jace exclaimed.

"I heard that!" Izzy scolded.

Meanwhile, Izzy noticed, Clary stood and watched. She was smiling and looking happy that Alec was there but she also looked...sad. Izzy was curious why, but now wasn't the time to ask. Not in front of her brothers.

"Hello Clary, how are you?" Alec asked politely.

"I'm good, how's college?" Clary asked.

"Great. The food is a lot better," Alec laughed a little. Everyone chuckled. Alicante High is known for it's not so fantastic food. Izzy had found a fly in her salad once.

"Where's Magnus?" Izzy asked, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be meeting Alec's boyfriend today.

"He's...somewhere," Alec hesitated, as if he had just noticed his boyfriend's absence.

"I'm here!" Izzy heard a voice call. Everyone turned and looked at Magnus.

Alec had spoken highly of Magnus whenever Izzy had skyped him, but she was not prepared for his appearance.

He had black hair, and it was spiked. He wore eye liner and eye shadow. His outfit was very tasteful. And he was covered in glitter. Izzy could already tell she was going to like him.

"Hi, I'm Isabelle. I'm Alec's sister," Izzy said, walking over to Magnus to shake his hand. Magnus smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Alec has told me a lot about you," Magnus said.

Izzy scoffed. "Good or bad?"

"Mostly bad," he admitted and laughed at Alec's horrified face. "I'm kidding!"

"Hi, I'm Jace," Jace called out to Magnus. "I would shake your hand but you're standing over there and walking over to you would be so much work," he smirked.

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, Alec's told me about you. His pain in the ass adopted brother."

"You call him that too? That's what I call him!" Izzy exclaimed to Alec.

Izzy noticed Magnus glance at Clary, looking curious.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Where are my manners? This is my best friend, Clary Fray. Clary, this is Magnus, Alec's boyfriend."

"Hi," Clary smiled. "I'm glad Alec finally has found someone. He used to be a bit of a loner," she teased.

Alec violently rubbed his knuckles against Clary's head and she called out in protest. "Sorry, sorry!" She finally said.

* * *

"Clary?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like my brother?"

Clary almost spit out her water. The two of them were now in Izzy's room, though they had to convince Jace to leave them alone. He was convinced that since Clary was technically his guest, he had to hang out with her.

"Uh, Alec? Yeah, he's nice. He's like an older brother to me almost. You know that," Clary shrugged.

"That's the wrong brother and that's not what I meant either, Clary," Izzy sighed.

"I know I was just trying to avoid the subject. I don't really know. I mean, he's a nice person. And he's cute, that's for sure. But do I like him? Like as a potential boyfriend? I don't know yet." She could've fooled her if Izzy hadn't seen Clary's face. She was blushing.

"You SO like him. This is so exciting! What color scheme do you want your wedding to be?" she asked teasingly.

"Stop it! I just don't know, okay? Yes I do like him. But I don't think I can ever trust a guy. Not ever again," Clary commented. Izzy jumped on the prey.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask about that; what exactly did you tell Jace?"

"Everything," Clary said. "Some, well most of it actually, were things you don't know."

Izzy tried not to sound hurt. "Well, if you ever want to talk about whatever happened in your past, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Yes, of course I do. And I will. I'm planning on it. Just not now. I don't like thinking about it. Talking about it is even worse."

* * *

**Clary:**

For dinner, they were having spaghetti and meatballs, with meat sauce, garlic bread, and caesar salad. Clary was almost overwhelmed by the food. She never has home cooked meals at home, because Luke and her mom were always working late. Besides, Jocelyn wasn't that great a cook to begin with.

Clary eagerly took some garlic bread when Jace passed her the bowl, and then took a bite of her salad. It was delicious.

"So, children, would you like to introduce to me your guests?" Maryse after she introduced the other guests. Maryse's brother and his wife were here as well as the others.

"Well, this is my boyfriend, Simon," Isabelle started. Simon awkwardly waved.

"This is my...my...," Alec coughed. Poor Alec. He was still a little insecure about his sexuality. "..My boyfriend, Magnus," Alec finally got out. Magnus flashed a huge smile.

"This is my friend, Clary," Jace hesitated before he said friend. Clary wondered why.

"Not a girlfriend?" Jace's adopted aunt teased.

"No," Jace said looking embarrassed. "Not yet," he added. He smirked at Clary and she rolled her eyes, but her heart involuntarily leapt. Yet? What did that mean?

For a little while, the only sounds were the clanking of forks against dinner plates. But then Maryse's brother asked the question that Clary had wanted to ask Alec, but was too shy to.

"So, Alec, how did you and Magnus meet?"

Alec considered the question and glanced at Magnus, who was silently laughing. Obviously, it must've been embarrassing.

"Well," Alec started. "We first officially met at orientation, where we found out where our dorms were. So I walked into it and Magnus had been in there, painting it with glittery, purple paint. Except I didn't know that he was balancing the paint can on the door. So I entered the room and was drenched in paint."

Everyone laughed, including Clary. _So this is what a proper dinner feels like,_ she thought. She felt a pane of sadness. She would never experience this with her family, while Isabelle's does it every night.

* * *

**Jace:**

After dinner, Jace was planning on asking Clary out.

_I can do this,_ he thought. _I can._

He didn't understand why he was freaking out over it, he's been able to ask out countless girls before.

Then Jace realized why.

It was because Clary actually meant something to him. He didn't like her for her body, like he had for the past girls he went out with. He liked her for her kindness and her inner beauty, her strength, and so many things. He could go on forever about what he liked about her.

This made asking her out a million times more nerve wracking.

_She's not going to say no. She likes you,_ he thought. _Oh who am I kidding? She doesn't like me. Why would she like me?_

"So, Clary, is it?" Jace's uncle asked, snapping Jace out of his thoughts.

"Yes, that's my name," Clary said.

"Well, we don't know much about you. I mean, my wife and I don't. I'm sure Maryse knows about you, since you've been friends with Izzy for a few years and I guess Jace as well. Where do you live?" he asked politely.

Clary smiled. "I live in Brooklyn," she said. "With my mom Jocelyn and my step dad, Luke Garroway."

"Wait, Garroway as in Mr. Garroway? The social studies teacher?" Alec asked.

"That's the one," Clary smiled. "He actually is my teacher this year."

"Isn't that against the law or something?" Magnus mused. Clary laughed lightly.

_She has a cute laugh,_ Jace thought but then snapped out of it.

"Well, kind of. But since there are only two social studies teachers in junior year, I ended up with Luke. Besides, there's nothing in the rules about step parents. It's helpful for homework," she laughed a little again. Jace was amazed that a girl as damaged as she was could laugh and act like nothing was wrong all the time. How could she even do it?

"So, any hobbies you have?" Jace's uncle asked.

Clary paused for a moment. "I love art. I love drawing and painting. I'm nowhere near as good as my mom though. I also love to read. Unless it's a crappy novel that was assigned to us in class. Then I don't love reading," she frowned a little. It was adorable.

* * *

Once everyone was done with dinner and dessert, Jace bravely grabbed Clary's wrist.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Um, okay?"

"Come on, let's go somewhere private," Jace said, starting to drag her around the house looking for an unoccupied room.

They reached Alec and Magnus's room.

_They're downstairs,_ Jace thought. _This room should be empty._

When Jace opened the door who realized to things.

One, that he had been wrong. Two, he'd probably never get the image of Alec and Magnus practically shoving their tongues down each other's throats out of his mind. Ever.

"Jace, this room is occupied," Clary whispered when Alec and Magnus jumped back and glared at them.

"I realize that now," Jace whispered back. "Uh, sorry guys. I thought this room was empty. We'll be going now. Have fun uh kissing and stuff. Try not to break any furniture," he said curtly and dragged Clary out of the room. He glanced around and decided to just go into the bathroom. So he did.

"Why are we in a bathroom?" Clary asked after he closed the door.

"Because it's the only place with privacy at the moment." Jace took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you something." Clary looked at him expectantly.

"Are we...friends?" he asked awkwardly.

"Well I would hope so. I mean I am here as your friend and I did tell you the deep dark secrets about my life," she laughed nervously.

"Okay, okay, glad we're on the same page," Jace said quickly.

"Jace are you okay?" Clary asked looking a little worried.

"I'm fine! Great actually," he replied. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to...or we could...or maybe sometime...,"

"Okay calm down Peter Parker," Clary teased. Jace was impressed and slightly amused by the Spiderman reference. "Just say whatever you want to say."

Jace took another deep breath, aware that he probably looked like an idiot. "Doyouwannagooutwithme?" he asked quickly.

"What?!" Clary asked her eyes widening.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Jace asked again, this time more confidently.

Silence.

Clary stared at Jace, looking conflicted.

"I'm sorry but...I don't know, Jace. Not now. Sorry. No." She then quickly turned around and left the bathroom, leaving Jace standing there shocked at what had just happened.

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**

**Y'all probably hate me oops**

**But did you like hte malec? Because I liked writing it. Malec for life.**

**Okay so review maybe? I checked today and saw that this story has 11k+ views, 100+ reviews, 66 favorites, and 150+ follows *screams***

**Not to mention, one of the authors of one of my favorite fan fics favorited this story *screams again***

**I LOVE YOU GUYS**

**Please review I love me some reviews**

**Till next time, **

**-amityhufflepuff**

**P.S. plz don't kill me :_;**


	11. Chapter 11: Feelings

**Isabelle:**

Having seen Jace practically drag Clary into a bathroom, Izzy decided to investigate.

She stood outside the door, trying to hear the conversation. She couldn't hear anything though, they were talking too softly.

She heard the footsteps a second before they left the bathroom.

She tried to leap into her bedroom, but before she could, Clary walked out of the bathroom. She glanced at Izzy, raising her eyebrows.

"Were you listening in?" she asked, sounding horrified.

"No! I mean, yes, but I was waiting for you, I swear!" she exclaimed.

"Swimming away from your bullshit, Izzy," Clary said sounding annoyed. She bit her lip. "Could you sleep over at my house tonight? I have a lot to talk to you about."

"Yeah, sure. I'll pack my overnight bag."

* * *

**Clary:**

"So, what was with Jace and you in the bathroom hmm? Hot make out sessions? I need details!" Izzy demanded, munching on a Double Stuff Oreo.

"No," Clary blushed. "He actually asked me out."

"OH MY GOSH FINALLY WE'RE GONNA BE SISTERS YOU TWO WILL HAVE THE MOST ADORABLE CHILDREN EVER—"

"Izzy?"

"What?"

"I said no."

Izzy widened her eyes. "Why?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship, Iz! I mean I've had one boyfriend before this. And I don't think he even counts, because we only held hands once and never did anything by ourselves. We only texted and told people we were dating when we really weren't when you think about it. So I haven't even had a boyfriend! I'm scared about heartbreak and all that crap," she huffed.

"Well, you could be a 'one and done' kind of person maybe. You never know," Izzy pointed out.

"I just don't trust men." Clary took a deep breath. "And here is why." She then told Izzy everything she had told Jace. Izzy gasped a lot and looked like she was close to tears at one point.

Once Clary was done explaining, they sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Well?" Clary asked. "Happy that you know now?"

"I just can't believe a person could have all that shit happen to them and be happy at all. But you are happy. That's so amazing." Izzy started.

"Who said I was happy?" Clary muttered. Izzy looked at her sadly for a moment. Then she quickly got up and started dragging Clary to the living room.

"You know what'll make you happy?" she asked.

"What?"

Izzy smiled. "Ben and Jerry's." Clary laughed and they both took their cartons of Ben and Jerry's and sat in front the TV.

"What do you want to watch first?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know."

"My choice then! We're watching The Notebook!" Izzy grinned at Clary's exasperated face.

"Fine," she grumbled.

They started watching the movie and it was alright but pretty cheesy.

"I don't understand we he wants her to tell her that she's a bird. That's stupid," Clary muttered.

"It's cute!" Izzy exclaimed.

"If you say so," Clary rolled her eyes and took out her phone. Might as well read some fan fiction. Izzy scoffed at her and Clary sighed and put her phone away. Might as well watch the rest of the movie.

At the end, Izzy was crying her eyes out and Clary was hitting her head against the popcorn bowl.

"They love each other so much that they wanted to die together," Izzy sobs.

"Kill me now," Clary muttered.

"Well what do you want to watch then?" Izzy asked.

"House at the End of the Street," Clary suggested.

"Why do you wanna watch that?" Izzy asked.

"Because it's AMAZING. Come on, Jennifer Lawrence is in it!" Clary exclaimed. "Or we could watch The Hunger Games. That movie never gets old. The book was better though... Same with Harry Potter. Or Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I still haven't read the book and I'd rather read the book first—"

"OKAY OKAY," Izzy exclaimed. "We'll watch House at the End of the Street."

Once they finished the movie, Izzy turned to Clary. "Clary?"

"What?"

"Why won't you go out with my brother?" she asked.

"Because, like I said, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet," Clary sighed.

"Why are you worried about that? Wasn't Grace Hazel in that book about Alaska or something nervous about that too? And she ended up with the guy."

"First of all, her name is Hazel Grace. Second of all, that was in The Fault in Our Stars. Looking for Alaska is another one of John Green's books," Clary said slightly annoyed. "And third of all, she got the guy, yes, but THEN HE DIED."

Izzy sighed. "Look I know you aren't sure about this, but I think he would be worth it. And I'm not saying that because he's my brother. I'm saying that because you two are good together."

"But Izzy, he's a player. What if he's just playing me?" she asked.

"No, that's not it at all. At first, that's what I thought he was doing," Izzy admitted. "But Jace is different now. I have no idea what magic you worked on him, but he's different now. He really does like you."

"How do you know that?" Clary asked.

"Well, I've talked to him about it. And, more importantly, I guess, I've seen the way he looks at you when you're not looking. He does like you," Izzy said.

On the inside, Clary was internally screaming. Jace Lightwood liked her! But she didn't say anything, she just ate her ice cream.

* * *

**Jace:**

"Am I allowed to ask why you burst into our room with Clary?" Alec asked once Jace had left the bathroom and was sitting on the couch of the living room.

Jace sighed a little. "I was going to ask her out, and I wanted to go into a room with privacy. I thought you guys were downstairs. By the way, you're a terrible kisser."

Alec turned red. "Well, did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Ask her out?"

"Yeah. She turned me down," he muttered.

Alec laughed. "Ouch. That has to be the first time that's ever happened to you."

Jace rolled his eyes. He was not in the mood for this right now.

Alec noticed Jace's annoyance and stopped laughing. "Hold up. Do you like her?" he asked.

"Yes, Alec. I like her. Why else would I have asked her out?" Jace said sarcastically.

"Well, it's just that you don't really like girls normally. Like you ask them out, go out with them for maybe a week, and then dump them. What's different about this?" Alec asked.

When Jace didn't answer, Alec got up. "I'm not good at this," he said. "I'm gonna get Magnus. Magnus is good at talking about girls."

Jace wondered what Alec meant by that.

"So, I hear you're having girl problems, huh?" Magnus said sitting down. "Excellent! One of my favorite topics!"

Jace snorted. "You're not normal."

"Normal isn't all it's cracked up to be," Magnus smirked. Jace laughed without humor.

"Wow, someone is crabby today. So you asked this girl out and she said no? Well, that's a tough one. But if you really do like her, or love her even, then you need to fight for her. Think of it this way: in every superhero story or comic, the guy always ends up with the girl," Magnus explained.

"How would you know all this?" Jace asked. "Aren't you uh gay?"

"No, actually, I'm a freewheeling bisexual," Magnus smirked.

Jace laughed when he saw Alec's face, overhearing the last part.

"Okay, well, thanks for the advice I guess."

Magnus smiled. "Any time."

* * *

**This is a filler chapter yay**

***whispers* I may or I might not be uploading Chapter 12 right after this  
**

**City of High School? More like City of References.**

**Do you guys even read these or no**

**ANYWAY, I hope y'all are having a fabulous day**

**Your reviews for the last chapter were hilarious omg**

**Please review, I love me some reviews**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	12. Chapter 12: Halloween Party

**Isabelle:**

Isabelle Lightwood was determined to get her brother and her best friend together. It HAD to happen.

So she planned to push them together somehow during her Halloween Party.

"A Halloween party?" Clary asked when Izzy told her she was throwing a Halloween party. "Isn't Halloween in two weeks?"

"Yeah, the party will be on a Halloween, stupid," Izzy smirked.

"I don't know. You know I don't do parties. I would prefer to read Destiel fan fics."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "You can be an anti-social fangirl some other time. Now, however, you have to do this. If you don't come, I'll drag you out of your house. By your hair," Izzy threatened.

Clary yelped. Izzy knew that she hated it when anyone touched her hair. "Fine, I'll go."

"Great!" Izzy squealed. Clary sighed.

"I don't even have a costume," she muttered.

"No problem! We can go to Party City tomorrow!" Izzy clapped her hands.

"No, I don't think they'll have the costume I want. I'll just go to Goodwill and put it together myself," Clary said, crushing Izzy's hopes.

"What are you going to be?" she asked.

"I'm going to be Amy Pond," Clary smiled.

"Of course you are," Izzy rolled her eyes. She wasn't really a fan of Doctor Who, but Clary and Jace both were. Yet another reason why they were perfect for each other.

"Excuse you, Amy is a badass," Clary huffed. "So who's coming to this party?"

"Our group of friends mostly. Some cheerleaders, probably. Magnus and Alec might. And Jace will be there," Izzy paused, waiting to see Clary's reaction.

She kept her face in a mask. "Oh that's nice I guess."

Izzy silently sighed. Getting Jace and Clary together was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

"Jace, you still like Clary, right?" Izzy asked her adopted brother after school.

Jace gave her a look. "Are you making fun of me?"

"NO, of course not! I was just trying to figure out how to get you two together and it would be really helpful if you liked her so you could maybe help me?" Izzy suggested.

Jace moaned. "What are you planning?"

"Well, I'm having a Halloween party and I was going to make you guys be partners for everything, I guess," Izzy said guiltily.

Jace laughed without humor. "You really think that's going to work?"

"To be honest, no. But work with me here!" Izzy exclaimed desperately.

Instead of responding, Jace just walked away shaking his head.

* * *

**Clary:**

Even though Clary had told Izzy that she already bought her costume pieces from Goodwill, she still dragged Clary to take her costume shopping wanting her "opinion". Kind of like how in Mean Girls, the Plastics always needed each other's opinions whenever they wanted to buy a dress or a skirt.

So that was how Clary ended up at Party City, waiting outside of the dressing room.

"How about this?" Izzy asked, sashaying out of the dressing room wearing a way too tight short dress.

"Um. It's a little...small?" Clary said, barely glancing up from her book. Izzy looked down at her outfit.

"Yeah," she frowned. "I guess you're right."

"That sexy ringmaster outfit looked good on you," Clary said, not even bothering to look up from her book this time.

"Yeah, I guess," Izzy said thoughtfully. She went to change back into the costume and walked back out.

The top to the dress was like a corset. It was red and black. The bottom half of the dress barely reached mid-thigh, was black, and lacy. There were gloves that were black and red, and elbow length. It was a top hat, but it was a tiny one. The costume even came up with a whip.

"Yeah, this is perfect!" Izzy exclaimed. "I could wear my thigh high boots with this!"

"Mmhm," Clary said, not paying attention.

"Clary do you even care?" Izzy asked.

"Nope," Clary said popping the p.

"You're impossible," Izzy huffed.

"Love you too!" Clary said, unable to resist the urge to make a reference.

Izzy sighed and walked back into the dressing room, not understanding the House of Hades reference. Figures.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

Today was the day of the Halloween party and everything was going as planned.

The decorations were all up, the DJ was playing tunes, and the smoke machine was working perfectly.

"Don't you think you overdid a bit?" Jace grumbled.

"No," Izzy said. "Besides, I know for a fact that you've been to crazier parties than this."

Jace ignored this. "When is Clary going to be here?"

"A few minutes, probably. Oh and by the way, great costume," Izzy teased, pointing to Jace's t-shirt and jeans.

"I'm going to go change," Jace grumbled as he went up the stairs.

Izzy laughed as the doorbell rang and she went to answer it.

"Hey!" Clary called. She was dressed in a pink shirt, black leather jacket, and short shorts that we're held up by a belt. On her feet, she wore cute combat boots.

"It's a cute outfit! I don't watch the show, so I wouldn't know if it's similar to what Clara wears," Izzy said.

"I'm dressed up as Amy. Not Clara. AMY," Clary corrected, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, there's so many characters that I get confused," Izzy shrugged.

Clary rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "puggle".

* * *

**Clary:**

Clary hated parties. She just hated being in the middle of people getting drunk and wasted. But what she hated most of all was socializing.

But for Izzy's sake, she was trying to at least be polite and resist the urge to take out her phone and read a book or something.

The party was pretty crazy. There were couples making out in the corners and drinking games and all that garbage. Her mother would kill her if she found out that she was even at a party with underage drinking involved, even if she wasn't doing any drinking.

Clary felt someone touch her arm and she jerked back.

"Whoa, easy there, it's only me," Jace smirked. Clary smiled on uneasily. Ever since she had turned Jace down, things between them had been awkward. They would say hi in the halls and work together in Chemistry, but it seemed different somehow. Clary wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Sorry, I thought you were some creeper offering me a drinking with roofies in it or something," Clary laughed shakily. Jace laughed.

"Well, you looked lonely so I figured you could use company. And what better company can you have then from yours truly," Jace smirked. Clary rolled her eyes.

"You're such an ass sometimes," Clary muttered.

"Only sometimes? Wow that's an improvement!" Jace exclaimed. Clary laughed and then got a good look at him. She suddenly noticed his plaid shirt.

"Are you dressed as a Winchester?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, Dean. Dean is a bad ass. He hunts demons. Sam just reads a lot," he smirked.

"Excuse you, I happen to read a lot too! And Sam is also a badass!" she huffed.

"I know I only said that because I knew it would annoy you," he teased.

"You'd be a better Sam. You two have the same hair."

"Ha-ha." Jace glanced at Clary's costume and she felt herself blush. "And it would take no genius to figure out you're Amy Pond."

"Yup, together we're Superwho," she laughs. "If only someone was dressed up as Sherlock. Then we'd have Superwholock. That would amazing."

"Are you sure about that? I think it would just be terrifying." Clary laughed again and noticed Izzy walking toward and climbing on top of the dining room table, something Maryse would NOT be pleased to find out.

"Attention everyone!" she called then giggled. She seemed a little tipsy.

_Oh boy,_ Clary thought. _This is going to be interesting._

"We're now going to be doing some activities if anyone wants to join! First we will be doing a three legged race. So pick a partner and head outside!" she called and then giggled. Jace grabbed Clary's arm.

"You're my partner, Red," he smirked.

"No, not Red. Please don't call me Red. Call me anything, just not Red," Clary said only slightly annoyed.

"Bossy, bossy," Jace tsked. By now they were in the Lightwood's huge backyard with a bunch of drunkards. Oh yeah, this'll be fun.

"Please tell me you're sober," Clary muttered to Jace. "I don't want to fall flat on my face."

Jace laughed. "Don't worry I'm completely sober. I haven't had anything to drink except water."

"Good."

Izzy was now walking around with strips of fabric to tie each other's legs with. When she reached Jace and Clary, she grinned very widely and then raised an eyebrow at Jace.

_What was that about?_ Clary thought.

Clary felt Jace gently put his arm on her back.

"Put your arm around me," he instructed. She did.

"Okay, now when this starts, do as I say. When I say outside, move your outside foot. When I say inside, moved your foot that is tied to mine. We can do this!" Jace cheered. Clary rolled her eyes. He was taking this way too seriously.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Izzy called.

"Outside, inside, outside, inside!" Jace chanted. They easily won, and probably would've even won without Jace's instruction, because everyone was so drunk.

"Let's go back inside," Jace muttered. "Izzy is going to do bobbing for apples next and I can just tell that's not going to end well."

"Yeah, I haven't been able to bob for apples since I saw that one Supernatural episode where the girl's face practically got boiled," Clary laughed a little.

Jace smiled. "Want a caramel apple?" he asked.

Clary raised her eyebrows. "You have caramel apples?"

"Yeah, I kept them hidden so no one would steal them. They're in my room. Want one?"

"Sure," Clary said, ignoring the butterfly feeling she was getting in her stomach.

When they climbed to the top of the stairs and walked toward Jace's door, Jace suddenly held his arm out, stopping her.

"What?" she asked.

"It sounds like there's someone in here...," he muttered. He then took a deep breath. "You might want to close your eyes, Clary."

"Oh shut up, I'm not 5 years old."

Jace smiled slightly. "Suit yourself..." He then quickly pushed the door open and they peeked inside.

Inside were two people. Girl was straddling the guy and the both didn't have shirts on. Clary didn't know either of them, but to be honest, she was glad she didn't. That would've made this a million times more awkward.

"NO SEX IN MY BEDROOM- LOOK WHAT YOU DID YOU MESSED UP MY PERFECTLY MADE BED- WHO TAUGHT YOU IT WAS POLITE TO MAKE OUT IN OTHER PEOPLES BEDROOMS- GET OUT!" Jace yelled. The couple both quickly put on their shirts and ran out.

Grumbling, Jace walked to his mini fridge and took out two caramel apples.

"That was...interesting," Clary mumbled.

"I'm used to it," Jace shrugged. Clary wasn't really sure if she wanted to know how he was would be in fact used to that.

Once they were both done with their apples they went downstairs. And they were surrounded by drunk people, people making out, and other icky things that, yet again, if Clary's mom found out that she was at a party where this all took place, she would probably be grounded.

"Oh God, this is awful. How can you people like parties?" she asked.

"I don't know how I ever did. They seem stupid, now. They seem like a complete waste of time," Jace frowned.

Clary sighed. "I didn't even WANT to come. I just came because Isabelle made me. I'd prefer to be reading a book, some fan fiction, and catching up on Once Upon a Time."

Jace laughed a little. "Sorry. Izzy can be very persuasive and intimidating when she wants to be."

"Can be?!"

Jace laughed again. "Okay fine. Izzy is very persuasive and intimidating all the time. Better?"

"Much better." Clary noticed the drunken boys walking towards her, and out of panic, she grabbed the first thing that should could find.

This just happened to be Jace's hand.

But there was something comforting about holding his hand. Clary couldn't explain it, exactly. It felt nice. It felt right.

When the bums saw that Clary was holding Jace's hand, they must have thought that he was her boyfriend or something. They left her alone after that.

Clary probably could've let go of Jace's hand after that.

She didn't.

He didn't complain either.

For the rest of the night, until she left to go home, she held Jace's hand.

* * *

**I love you guys so much that I uploaded two chapters.**

**The only reason I did this was because Halloween was a week ago and I don't want to be TOO behind XD**

**As always, please review**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity**


	13. Chapter 13: The Best and Worst Week Ever

**Isabelle:**

The next morning Izzy woke with a huge headache, but for the most part, she was okay. She went downstairs and got a glass of water.

"Morning," Jace said entering the room, his hair sticking up on one side.

"What happened yesterday?" Izzy asked weakly.

"Did you seriously drink that much?" Jace laughed.

"No." She paused. "I don't think I did anyway."

"You climbed on the table and did the Macarena." Izzy put her face in her hands and groaned. "I think that was the most memorable thing. I think Clary was about to fall over, she was laughing so hard."

"Speaking of Clary, did something happen between you two?" Izzy asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No," he said too quickly.

"Believe it or not, I don't believe you. Spill!"

Jace rolled his eyes. "Well, the party was getting kind of frightening, with the drunk people and all. So she grabbed my hand and didn't let go of it. We held hands the rest of night."

"AWWW!" Izzy exclaimed. "Not what I was hoping for, but hey, it's progress!" She said beaming. "I'm gonna invite her over!"

"Again?" he asked. Izzy gave him a look. "Not that I'm complaining. At all. But it might be best not to smother her."

"Oh please, she has nothing better to do. She just reads fan fictions and goes on Tumblr on the weekends," Izzy said, getting up to grab her phone.

* * *

**Clary:**

Clary woke to the sound of her phone reading next to her bed. Groaning, she reached over and saw Izzy was calling.

"What do you want?" she answered.

"Oh gee that was a nice greeting, hello to you too," Izzy said sarcastically.

"Well you woke me up and I don't like it when people wake me up," Clary grumbled.

"I was calling to ask you if you wanted to sleepover at my house tonight. We could probably make a fire and have s'mores even!" Izzy sounded excited. Too excited. It was suspicious.

"Yeah, sure, I guess. Question. Based on the way you're acting, does Jace have anything to do with this?" Clary asked curiously.

"Pfft no why would you think that?" Izzy said really quickly. Izzy always spoke quickly when she lied. Busted.

"This totally is about Jace!" Clary exclaimed.

"Fine, it is. This wouldn't be a problem if you would just go on a date with him, Clary!" Izzy exclaimed exasperatedly.

Clary sighed. "I'll go on a date with him. I think I'm ready now."

Izzy squealed. "Oh, my God. I'm telling Jace RIGHT NOW. He's probably gonna call soon so try to sound more awake okay. I love ya byeee!" Izzy was way too excited about this.

_Is Jace and I her OTP? _Clary thought._ What would our ship name be? Jary? No that sounds terrible. Clace? Hm. That actually has a nice ring to it..._

* * *

**Jace:**

After Izzy had excitedly told him what Clary had said, he immediately called her. Except she didn't answer. So he tried again. No answer still.

"Maybe she fell asleep again," Izzy laughed.

The third time Jace called, about 15 minutes later, there was an answer.

"Hello?" Clary weakly answered.

"Hey Clary. I uh was wondering if uh," Jace stuttered. He was suddenly nervous. "You would like to uh see a movie with me?" He asked really quickly.

"Jace, I would love to, but I just puked my guts out. I'm pretty sick, and I don't want to get you sick. So I can't," Clary said sounding disappointed.

"It's okay! I hope you feel better," he said. Izzy's head whipped up.

"Thanks, I hope so too," Clary said. She really did sound miserable. But there was something else in her voice. Fear.

_Is Clary afraid of me?!_ Jace wondered.

"Bye, Clary."

"Bye."

Jace hung up and looked at Izzy.

"She's sick?!" she demanded.

"Yeah."

"But she was fine when I talked to her!"

"Well, now she's not. She said she threw up a bit."

"Aw, poor her. I hope she feels better." She paused. "I still can't believe she went through everything that she did."

This got Jace's attention. "She told you?" he asked.

"Yeah, the night you asked her out. But I'm worried about her. Because I had said that it's amazing how she still manages to be happy, and then she said, 'Who said I was happy?' I hope she's okay."

* * *

**Clary:**

Clary had missed four days of school before her mom made her go back.

It wasn't that Clary hadn't been sick. She had been. But in a different way than Izzy thought. Izzy thought she had the stomach flu. Clary wished that was the case. Yeah, it would suck, but at least it would be over after a few days.

This is what had really happened on Saturday:

_After Izzy had said to expect Jace's call, Clary got out of bed beaming. She didn't even know why. She was just really, really happy. And then she went into the kitchen and found her mom talking on the phone. She was pale. Very pale._

_When her mom hung up, Clary was almost too nervous to ask what was wrong. But she did anyway._

_"Mom...what happened?" she asked slowly._

_"Your father he...escaped. A couple days ago, in fact. I just didn't tell you. But today, your brother escaped too. They think it's linked. And they think they're after you."_

_"Well, they won't be able to find me. Right?" Clary asked. Jocelyn hesitated. "Right Mom?" Clary asked forcefully._

_"I'm not sure," her mom cried. "I didn't move, so Jonathan knows where this apartment is. You might need to go into hiding or something. Lay low a little while," Clary's mom muttered, mostly to herself, wringing her hands._

_That was when the reality came crashing down on Clary, like a tidal wave in a tsunami. Valentine, Clary's dad, the man who would whip her bloody and starve her, was out of prison. And so was her brother. The evil brother who treated her in ways a young girl should never be treated._

_Clary ran from the kitchen to the bathroom and threw up. She quickly emptied her stomach. And then Jace called. Clary told him that she was sick. It wasn't like she was completely lying anyway. Clary then lied back down in her bed and cried. She hid under the covers of her bed, something she hadn't done since she was 8. She hid like a child would hide from the monster in their closet._

When she returned to school, she pretended everything was okay. When that was a lie. Nothing was okay. She was in danger. And that scared the shit out of her. She still acted like everything was fine and convinced a couple people.

Just kidding. Everyone could tell something was wrong.

At lunch her friends gave her an "intervention".

"Clary, we all know something is up," Jace said slowly. He had started sitting with them a week or so ago.

"And please know that you can tell us anything. We love you, and can help you," Izzy added.

"This is so cliché," Simon muttered. Izzy kicked him in the shin. "OW, I mean, we'll support you through whatever is troubling you."

Clary tried to smile but failed. "Thank guys, I appreciate it, I really do. But there are some things that I have to deal with on my own."

Clary saw Izzy glance worriedly at Jace. Jace didn't seem happy with Clary's answer, either.

"Can we please talk about something else now? How's cheerleading, Izzy, Aline, and Helen? Is basketball cheering different from football cheering?" Clary asked. Helen had agreed to go out with Aline and the two of them were very happy. They started sitting at the table too.

"My only complaint is that I can't practice my routines EVER. Because I'm a spotter, and I need a flyer to practice tossing in the air. And I don't want to ask Seelie or Kaelie for practice," Aline groaned.

"I have the same problem!" Izzy groaned.

"Well, I mean, it would make sense. The three of us are all spotters," Helen pointed out.

"I just need a really short person. I don't even care if they are good at cheerleading; as long as I can throw them around, I'm good," Aline said.

"Wait a minute...I know someone who is short...," Izzy started. All eyes turned to Clary.

"No way," she said.

"Oh come on! It's just to practice at home! We'll tell you what to do! It's not like you need to join the squad or anything!" Izzy begged.

"It would be REALLY helpful. Please?" Helen joined Izzy in begging.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Whatever," Clary muttered, throwing up her arms in surrender.

"Great! We can practice after school then!" Izzy exclaimed, sounding excited.

"Can't," Clary said. "I'll probably have a ton of absent work."

"Aww, boo." Izzy pouted.

But the weird thing is, she didn't have any absent work at all. Whenever she asked a teacher about it they would respond, "Oh, you don't have any, dear" or "I excused you from the assignment."

And the events got weirder still. Right after lunch, during Calculus, the secretary interrupted class by asking for Clary to come to the office through the intercom.

"Oo the goody two shoes is in trouble! I never thought I'd live to see the day!" snarled Seelie. Clary ignored her and walked to the office.

_Why would they want me in the office?_ she wondered.

Walking to the front desk, Clary was almost shaking with anticipation and nervousness

"Excuse me, I was wanted in the office?" Clary asked in a quiet and polite voice.

"Name?" The secretary requested, sounding bored.

"Clarissa Fray." The secretary seemed to perk up at Clary's name.

"Oh yes, Mr. Wayland wanted to talk to you. Have you ever been to his office? It's back there," the secretary said, pointing.

"Thanks," Clary said, starting to walk towards Mr. Wayland's office.

Mr. Wayland was the guidance counselor for the junior students. Why would he want to talk to her?

Mr. Wayland was waiting for Clary when reached his office.

"Hello, Clary. Please, do come in. And shut the door behind you." Clary did as he said and then sat one of the uncomfortable chairs.

"How are you?" he asked politely.

"I'm fine I guess but I still don't understand why I'm here," she said.

"Your mother requested it," he simply said.

_Oh. She wants me to talk to someone about Valentine and Jonathan, Clary thought. Well I'm not going to. No one needs to know_.

"Do you know why?" Clary asked.

"You're mom told me you were going through a very scary situation. That was all. No details," Mr. Wayland said, sounding bored.

"Well I'm fine with it, okay? I can deal with it on my own," Clary snarled. She had never liked Mr. Wayland. He was so...fake. "Why don't I have to do absent work?" she snapped.

"Your mom requested it. She said you have enough stress right now."

_Ain't that the truth_, Clary thought.

She was totally fine with not having to do absent work, but it still slightly angered her that her mom didn't think Clary could handle this. It's not like her dad has found her. Yet.

"Look. I don't want to be here, and I know you don't either, so can I just leave now?" Clary asked with a bored and annoyed voice.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Mr. Wayland asked with his annoying sympathetic fake counselor voice.

"I'm quite sure," Clary said, and then left without asking for a pass.

* * *

**Isabelle:**

When Clary had told Isabelle that she didn't have any absent work after all and that she could hang out and help them, she was ecstatic.

That was before she realized how uncoordinated Clary really was.

"Okay now lift your leg," Izzy told Clary once she had finally straightened and was being held up by Aline, Helen, and Izzy.

"Are you kidding me?!" Clary exclaimed.

"No, we have to get used to holding someone up while they are doing a Scorpion! Now, lift your leg!"

"I am NOT doing a Scorpion!" Clary growled. She then raised her leg slightly.

"Higher!" Aline demanded. "Hold it up to your head!"

"Easy for you to say, you're actually flexible!" Clary exclaimed.

"Clary just try. Please?" Izzy begged. Clary sighed a theatrical sigh and then brought her leg to her head, crying out a little from the pain that stretching like that can give you if you weren't used to it.

"Okay, we're going to throw you now. And while you're in the air, twist a couple of times. Okay?" Helen told Clary.

"We never agreed to this!" Clary grumbled. "You're gonna drop me..."

"Clary if they drop you I'll kiss you to make it all better," Jace called out. He was sitting on the porch, "reading". Yeah right. More like checking Clary out in the yoga pants Izzy forced her to wear.

"Shut up Jace or else I will have to kill you!" Clary yelled, but she was blushing.

"Ready?" Aline asked, smiling.

"Wait- what - NO!" Clary exclaimed with a flustered tone.

"One," Aline counted, ignoring Clary's answer.

"Two," Helen counted.

"Three!" Izzy called. They then threw Clary pretty high in the air, but she must've forgotten that she was supposed to do twists and bellyflopped into their arms.

"Close enough...," Aline muttered.

"Are we done yet?" Clary asked, sounding flustered.

"Yes," Izzy sighed. "You're done. That's as good as we're gonna get."

"Thank GOD," Clary hopped up wiping off her dirty hands.

* * *

**Clary:**

Clary probably would've exploded if she had to do another cheer leading flip or whatever they were called, so she relieved that they stopped when they did.

But as soon as they stopped, she started thinking about her dad and her brother, the thought hanging over her like a dark cloud.

She started to walk back to the house but felt a strong hand grab her arm. She screamed and jumped, thinking automatically that it was Sebastian or Valentine.

"Jesus, it's just me, Clary!" Jace exclaimed.

Clary tried to calm down but couldn't and burst into tears.

"Clary, are you okay?" Jace asked softly.

"Of course not, you idiot!" she exclaimed.

Next thing she knew, she was enveloped in Jace's arms and crying into his shoulder. He rubbed her back and whispered reassuring words, stroking her hair.

Once Clary was only sniffling, she leaned back and looked into his gold eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Sorry for what? Crying? That's dumb. You can't apologize for something you can't control."

Clary nodded. "I have to get my phone and call my mom. It's in the house."

"Okay," Jace said, reluctantly letting go of her. Clary smiled a slight smile and walked back into Izzy's huge house. She quickly found her phone in her backpack and dialed her mom's number.

"Clary? Are you okay?" Jocelyn answered, sounding panicked.

"I'm fine, Mom," Clary sighed. "I was wondering when I had to be home."

"I don't think you should go home," Jocelyn said quickly.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Clary asked, suddenly scared.

"No, nothing is wrong. I just think it would be safer if slept at Isabelle's house for a while until the police find them. I'll call Maryse and tell her everything."

"Everything?" Clary asked.

"Yes, everything. She has a right to know. Do any of your friends know about your father and brother?"

"Well, Jace and Izzy both know what they did. But no one knows that they've escaped. I don't want them to know. Could you tell Maryse that?"

"Fine, fine. Okay I'm calling her now. I'll bring some clothes and your tooth brush and everything you'll need later."

* * *

**Jace:**

Jace was surprised but secretly delighted when Aline and Helen left and Clary stayed.

He got yet another surprise during dinner.

"Isabelle, Jace, I have news for you." She smiled at Clary, but there was something else in her expression. It almost looked like pity. "Clary is going to be staying with us for an indefinite amount of time!" Izzy squealed and hugged Clary.

"It'll be like having a sleepover everyday!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"I know!" Clary squealed.

Izzy turned to Jace. "Aren't you excited, Jace?!" she asked mischievously. The little brat.

"Yes, of course!" Jace forced himself to say. And it was true, he was excited. But there was something wrong with this picture. He knew when Maryse was hiding something, and she definitely was. And Clary had been uneasy all day today...

"Why, exactly, are you staying with us indefinitely?" he asked, curiously.

"Oh well um, my mom's uh, mom is sick and she wants to spend time with her. We don't know how long my grandma will live, so it's indefinite."

Jace shrugged. _That makes sense. I guess._

* * *

**Clary:**

After dinner, Jace grabbed Clary's arm and dragged her towards the door.

"What you doing?" she asked, slightly alarmed.

"Taking you somewhere."

"Can I get my coat at least?" Clary asked as they walked out the door and the cold air slammed into her.

"You can borrow mine," Jace said. He shrugged his leather jacket off and gave to her. Clary gratefully took it and snuggled into it. It was nice and warm, and smelled like him too.

"Aren't you cold?" she guiltily asked.

"Nah, I'm a man. Men don't get cold."

Clary rolled her eyes. By now they had reached Jace's car, and Clary climbed into the passenger seat.

They drove in silence for a couple minutes. Eventually Clary had to ask. "Where exactly are we going?"

"It's kind of hard to explain." Jace paused. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

Soon, they parked on the side of the road.

"I still have no idea where we're going," Clary admitted. Jace smiled.

"Good."

He quickly jumped to the passenger side and opened the door for Clary. She felt her face get warm.

"You didn't have to do that..," she blushed.

Jace smiled. Feeling brave, Clary shyly took Jace's hand. He laced his fingers through hers. His hand was very warm. Clary couldn't breathe.

They walked up to a big house. Bigger than the Lightwood house, and that was saying something. Jace put a finger to his lips.

"Be very quiet," he whispered. "We kinda sorta have to sneak into the backyard without being noticed."

"Uh, okay?" Clary whispered back. Jace grinned and dragged her to the side of the house, moving away whenever there was light been cast by windows. They had gotten to a fantastic looking gate.

"Okay, I'm going to lift you up, and you'll have to climb over the fence."

"Won't that make noise?" Clary whispered.

"Maybe, but it's okay. I think the guards have night off."

_Guards?_

Clary shrugged. "I'm ready when you are," she muttered. She felt herself get lifted high into the air. Jace didn't even grunt.

"I swear to God, Jace Lightwood, if you are checking out my butt right now, I will kick you," Clary grumbled. Jace snickered.

"Just climb over," he whispered. Clary did as she was told, and landed with a thud on the other side of the gate. She heard Jace grunt and land with a thud beside her. Clary turned toward him.

"How did you do that so quickly and quietly?" she asked.

Jace smirked. "Magic."

Clary rolled her eyes, and then got a glance of the backyard.

She saw a large, glass building, multiple feet away. Jace took her had and started to lead her there.

As they entered the warm, humid glass building, Clary heard her breath catch.

The building was a greenhouse. And filled with flowers. Orchids, roses, daisies, pansies, snapdragons. You name it, and it was there.

Jace led her to the center to the greenhouse. They were surrounded by flowers, and the scent of each one was sweet and amazing.

"It's so beautiful here," Clary breathed.

"This used to be my mother's garden," Jace said softly.

Clary looked up. She knew that his mother died young.

"I only know about it because I vaguely remember my dad taking me here. Very vaguely. I was only 1 after all. I remember the smell of the flowers and bright colors. And my dad looking happy. That was a couple weeks before he died in the crash."

"I'm sorry, Jace," Clary said softly. It must be hard to have more than one person in your life get killed by a car crash.

"It's fine," he said roughly.

"Who's taken care of it all these years? And why did we have to sneak in?"

"My grandmother has taken care of it," Jace said. "We had to sneak in because she's disowned me, and when I tried to come here when I had ran away from my foster home at that time, she found me and told me to never return. And then she brought me back to my foster home. I was 7."

"Wait, if you have her as a living relative, why isn't she taking care of you?" Clary asked.

"Because she doesn't want to," Jace sighed. "You see, my father, Stephan, came from a very religious family. And Celine, my mother, had been from a family of a different religion. My father's parents told him that he couldn't be with her. But he ignored them and they ran away together. They were both 18. Like your parents, Clary." Jace paused. "Once my mom died a few days after giving birth to me, in some freak accident, my dad went to his mom for help. And she just slammed the door in his face. Then, when he died, I guess she felt bad and finally accepted Celine and befriended her parents, and eventually moved in with them when they got ill. Once they died, she stayed at their house and took over the duty of taking care of the garden."

"Why doesn't she like you then?" Clary asked.

"I don't know; I think it's because I remind her of them and how she messed up."

"That's awful. I wonder if she realizes that she's messing up again by abandoning you," Clary murmured.

"Yeah, well, let's just say that if I found my grandmother dying on the street, I wouldn't exactly help her." He smiled slightly. Clary laughed lightly. Jace looked at her longingly. He put his hands around her waist. Somewhere in Clary's mind screamed for her to get a grip and walk away from his embrace. But the more dominant part of her mind wanted him to keep touching her.

Jace was leaning forward slowly.

_Holy SHIT- is he going to kiss me-what am I going to do I'm pretty sure I'm a terrible kisser-the only person I've kissed is Simon and that was awkward-_, Clary's mind was reeling.

Jace's face was now so close that their noses were touching. Clary closed her eyes. And then she felt Jace's lips brush against hers.

And then it was as if a dam had broke. He was kissing her desperately and she started kissing him back, her hands tangled in his hair. She smiled against his lips as they continued to kiss as if they would never see each other ever again. Jace parted her mouth with his and deepened the kiss even further. And then the sprinkler went off, making Clary jump back and shriek in surprise. Jace laughed, and they soon were both soaked.

"Did you plan this?" Clary asked accusingly, putting her hands on her hips.

"No I didn't I swear," Jace continued to laugh.

"Oh, shut up," Clary said before she grabbed his face and kissed him again.

The kiss seemed to last forever. Once they finally broke apart, Jace was smiling stupidly, and Clary was sure she was too.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Jace asked, still with his arms around her.

"I dunno. I mean you are a pretty good kisser...," Clary teased and then laughed at Jace's worried face. "Yes. I will be your girlfriend." Jace beamed and pulled Clary into yet another kiss.

They stayed in the greenhouse for a long time. Kissing, looking at the flowers, Jace whispering sweet nothings into Clary's ear and Clary blushing. They eventually left and hopped the fence and ran to the car, holding hands, and laughing happily.

That had been the first time in a while that Clary had forgotten about her father and her brother. The first time The first time Clary had been genuinely happy.

As they drove back to the Lightwood house, Jace keep his hand on Clary's leg.

_I could get used to this_, Clary thought, smiling to herself.

* * *

**I'm sure a lot of you right now are probably like, "IT'S ABOUT TIME IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH"**

**Tbh that's what I thought when I wrote this chapter haha**

**The cheerleading thing was my compromise with you guys, because A LOT of you wanted Clary to be a cheerleader and I didn't want that, so I came up with this. I hope you're satisfied with it :3**

**You guys are hilarious and amazing I love you all**

**Please review, I love me some reviews.**

**And if you like my sense of humor or what not and have an Instagram, check out my multi fandom account thelastshadowhunter! I post TMI, Superwholock, Hunger Games, etc. Really, it's a little of everything.**

**Till next time,**

**-hufflepuffamity **


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